It’s always good news when we hear about any cycling-related campaigns, regardless of location or scale.
Over down south at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), the administration is looking to promote further its bicycle culture by pilot-testing a ride-sharing system around campus. This comes after UPLB together with local bike-rental business Tipaklong Sustainable Mobility conducted an initial feasibility study and pilot-testing last year.
OTHER STORIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:
UnionBank to offer up to P8/L off on Shell fuels through new Power Credit Card
MMDA, LTO, DOTr to come up with unified regulation for e-bikes, e-trikes
The ride-sharing system will include a fleet of e-bikes and e-scooters from Tipaklong which will then be rented to UPLB constituents through a dedicated mobile app. This will help determine the total number of trips, distance traveled, carbon dioxide emissions avoided, and other relevant data. In addition to this, Tipaklong will also provide bicycle units to the UPLB Security and Safety Office.
This new initiative is part of the university’s Green Mobility Initiative (GMI) which “envisions a green community for UPLB by forging partnerships and developing mechanisms to promote and adopt environment-friendly modes of campus transport.” UPLB will also be installing more bike racks on campus in line with its Transportation System and Traffic Management Master Plan. Said plan also includes guidelines for bike lanes around campus, so that might also be in the pipeline.
“This is us taking a revolutionary step,” said vice chancellor for community affairs Roberto P. Cereno. “As a national university, we need to be conscious of our carbon footprint and proactively engage our constituents with our efforts to be steadfast stewards of our environment. One way of looking at it is by focusing on our transport system.”
