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Philippines

Supporting the Development of Active Transport Mobility in the Philippines

Overview

Featured GRSF-BIGRS Grant Activity: Supporting the Development of Active Transport Mobility in the Philippines

The Philippines government is committed to prioritize Active Transport Mobility in their COVID-19 recovery plan and over-all transport infrastructure development. The World Bank welcomed this initiative and agreed to support it by providing technical assistance thanks to grants from the Government of Australia and the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS).

The first step was already taken by the Government, by legislating the Bayanihan 2 Act, which aims to respond and support the country’s recovery from the health and economic problems stemming from COVID-19. An active transport mobility is a priority intervention area of the Government’s response.

Focused on three major metropolitan regions (Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao) with a target completion date of September 2021, this ambitious, multi-stakeholder program identifies capacity building on bicycle infrastructure as a core objective. Through this program, the World Bank is providing all key government agencies, local practitioners, and stakeholders with capacity building, mentoring and hands-on practice on bicycle infrastructure planning, development, and design, together with lifecycle asset management.

bicycle infrastructure in Manila
Bicycle infrastructure in Manila

Objective of the Trainings ⌵︎

This engagement aims to achieve a significant increase in the Philippines’ active transport mobility through safe and accessible bicycle infrastructure, planned and designed by skilled local practitioners with guidance from international experts from the Netherlands and Australia. Guest expert speakers are sourced with the support of the Netherlands’ Embassy in the Philippines and the Dutch Cycling Embassy.

Key Principles of the Trainings ⌵︎
  • Actionable: Training activities follow the approach of action learning and include experiential elements (e.g., observations, first-hand experience rides, case studies etc.) for the participants to bring into practice important lessons and concepts.

  • Together: Planning and designing bicycle infrastructure requires diverse stakeholders to come together. Group discussions and reflection are integral to the trainings.

  • Dutch Infused: The Netherlands has managed to grow a cycling culture from a car dominated society with high road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths. The trainings extract important lessons from the Dutch cycling knowledge and contextualize to local conditions. Dutch examples, design principles and lessons learned are used for presentations and (group) exercises.

The capacity-building activities enabled the participants to understand Dutch Cycling Principles and its applications in the Philippines, the Safe Systems Approach and how to apply these to cyclist safety, cycling infrastructure planning, development, and maintenance, among many others. The training format consists of live sessions, practical exercises, and e-courses. Participants come from various departments and levels of government particularly staff from the Department of Transportation, Health, Public Works and Highways, and Interior and Local Government.

Intermediate Findings ⌵︎

By June 2021, the Bicycle Infrastructure Training Program has delivered five trainings, with more than 150 professionals trained from various governmental agencies and other organizations. Some key outcomes that were achieved already:

  • Development of a holistic mindset amongst key stakeholders to plan cycling networks and design safe and accessible bicycle infrastructure.

  • Development of the fundamental understanding amongst key stakeholders on the importance of non-infrastructure related elements such as cross agency and stakeholder coordination, embedding cycling in integrated (sustainable) mobility plans and community engagement.

  • Development of a practical, evidence-based Road Safety Audit (RSA) toolkit, and training key stakeholders how to use it.

  • Development of a thorough interventions toolbox to address gaps in the major design and standards guidelines, and training key stakeholders how to use it.

Online Trainings can be Actionable!

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all training sessions are delivered as live online training sessions. However, this has not limited the impact of the training program. By using online tools such as break out rooms, mentimeter and padlet it is possible to make the training actionable and interactive. It enabled the participants to respond to the concepts introduced and together with peers reflect on local situations and designs.

Supporting the Development of Active Transport Mobility in the Philippines
Ideas in action! Participants of the Bicycle Infrastructure Training Program
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The Key Impact

  • Event icon 2

    5 trainings 
    delivered under the the Bicycle Infrastructure Training Program by June 2021

  • members

    150+ professionals trained
    in the program from various governmental agencies

  • research

    The program identifies a level of engagement 
    for each activity to give an indication of the learning outcome

  • quote

    The program entails training possibilities 
    in multiple stages ranging from the Plan and Design stage to Monitor and Improve stage

  • view

    The program also includes cross cutting topics 
    which are fundamental for bicycle infrastructure lifecycle management and apply to each phase of the lifecycle

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