From a simple campus initiative of renting out 72 bicycles to registered students of the University of the Philippines, the UP Bike Share is now set to received a PHP15-million grant from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
With the grant for the two-year project, UP Bike Share is set to develop the very first bike-sharing system in Southeast Asia.
Miguel Alberto Mercado, one of the founders of UP Bike Share, explains, “A fourth generation bike-sharing system is a system where bikes are designed to carry the technology to make operations much easier for both the user and operator.”
In a Philippine Star report, DOST Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) executive director Carlo Primo David talked about the positive effects of biking on health and transportation.
“In the whole of ASEAN, maybe in the whole of Asia, Filipinos are actually the least in terms of average number of steps walked per day. We’re not a walking society… Hopefully, with this one, we’ll also promote walking and other means of transport including e-vehicles,” David said.
Hurray for alternative forms of transportation in the Philippines! We support any program that aims to ease traffic congestion and shorten the time spent on the road.
