talking points and faqs.docx

8/13/2019 Talking points and FAQs.docx

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Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs) and Talking Points(Nov 26, 2011)

1. What is the Share the Road Movement?

Share the Road Movement is a movement of ordinary people who arefed up with the present road system that is unfair, expensive, inefficientand dirty.

It seeks to transform the entire road and transportation system tofollow the principle that:

Those who have less in wheels must have more in roads.

2. What does Share the Road Movement stand for?

To Review the basics of the transportation system, we ask: What is thepurpose of transportation? Is it not to carry people and things from onepoint to another?Who is smarter, ants or human beings?Despite their number, ants do not have traffic jams because they followa simple principle: They move in singlefile.

To REVise the road system to make itmore fair. Out of every 100 people in

the Philippines, only about 2% peoplehave cars. Yet, they are given morethan 98% of the roads. People who donot have cars are hardly given a spaceto walk or ride a bicycle.

To REVolutionize and turn around thepresent priority of the road system formotor vehicles to a priority given to people

3. What is wrong with the car-based transportation system?

Because it promotes the individualized transportation model, it hasthese disadvantages.

- Waste of Space.For the simple chore of moving from one point to another, so

much space is taken up to move so few people. Observe this: Oneperson standing takes up only one-eights (1/8) of a square meter.Sitting down, he occupies maybe one-fourth (1/4) of square meter.But one person in a car takes up at least 12 sq. m. of space, withouteven moving.

- Waste of Metals, Rubber, Plastics

I s t hi s F A IR ? 2 % v er su s 9 8%


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For the simple chore of moving from point A to point B, so muchsteel had to be mined, so much forests cut down to plant rubber,and so much oil had to be taken out to serve as a fuel for motorvehicles

-Cost of the Car, Fuel, Oil, Maintenance

For the cost of one car, one can send a child to the best schoolsand universities in the country, or put up a down payment for a house.Yet, because of the wrong model of transportation that encouragesindividualized motor vehicles instead of collective locomotion systems,we are forced by circumstances to buy one or more cars becausepublic transportation is very inconvenient, unsafe and generallyunhealthy.

Cost of Fuel and Oil

Try burning a one-thousand peso bill. Such as waste, isnt it?But is this not what we actually do when we buy gasoline (or diesel)and burn it in the engines of our cars?

Maintenance

The cost of maintaining a carfrom oil changes to repairsisa significant drain on our living expenses. It can consume anywhere

between 20-30% of our expenses. And that does not even include theinsurance, car washing, and major repairs.


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Other costs

Poisoning the Air

The other hidden costs of the motor vehicle aretremendous. We must pave over soil with concrete, thus takingout the ability of the soil to absorb water. The exhaust pipes ofmotor vehicles pump out poisonous gases. If we breathed itdirectly, the toxic gases would cause almost immediate death.

Yet all our motor vehicles are pumping out great volumesof gases into the air for other people to breathe.

For those who think they are breathing cleaner airbecause they are air-conditioned cars, think again. Where does

that air that you breathe inside the cabin of your car come from?Does it not come from the very same poisonous air that isbreathed by everyone else? The air-conditioning unit in your cardoes not clean the air. It only cools it. The quality of thepoisonous air that you breathe within your car is even muchworse because it cannot escape and is stuck inside. Notice howyou get dizzy after being stuck traffic for thirty minutes. That isthe effect of the poisonous air you are breathing.

Wasting Water

Because we want to keep our cars clean and shiny, we have tohave them cleaned regularly. Precious freshwater, which could be usedfor drinking, bathing and other necessary domestic activities, is simplyused to clean this motor vehicle.

Accidents

With too many motor vehicles moving around in very limitedroad space, there are so many accidents resulting in unnecessary ofloss of life and limb, and damage to property.

Loss of Urban Land

Precious urban land is very expensive and scarce. Such land couldhave been devoted to urban vegetable gardens, parks and green openspace, housing for low-income families, rainwater collectors andcatchment ponds, and other wholesome uses of public space. Instead,because of our mania for cars and motor vehicles, we have convertedthem into concrete roads and parking lots.


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Flooding

Because of thepaving of concrete of opensoil and vegetation, nothing

absorbs the rainwateranymore. With theaccelerated and heavyrainfall as a result of to theongoing rapid climatechange, we will only havemore flooding if we continueto pave our roads withconcrete.

Social Alienation

When a man is noteven given a space to walk, while someone who rides an SUV (SportsUtility Vehicle) is give all the public space to run his vehicle, and in theprocess poison the air, a bad feeling of envy and being sociallyalienated is created. Even people driving or riding in cars hardly everyget to see each other when cooped up in the cabin of their cars.

4. Despite all the disadvantages of the car-based system, why do weinsist on it?

Because we are copying the wrong model. This is the model ofcar-based system of the United States, particularly of the wrongside of the USLos Angeles. This does not apply to us.

First, because we have very little public space and cannot affordto waste it with individualized motor vehicles.

Second, we are a financially-challenged country and should notbe copying the life-styles of the rich and famous.

Third, how many of us can really afford cars and to burn ourhard-earned money for the simple chore of moving from one point

to another.Fourth, Los Angeles and what it is known for, Hollywood, are notreal. They are a world of make-believe.

Fifth, those who have been to Los Angeles have seen how eventheir eight-lane highways have become parking lots

Sixth, we are now seeing that this wasteful lifestyle of the richand famous has led to the virtual financial (and often also moral)bankruptcy.

But our political leaders insist on copying the wrong model ofpromoting individualized transportation system. We are stuck in the

inertia of collective insanity. Also, our political leaders like to buildmore roads because,


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a. They are more visible and are therefore seeminglysymbolic of their achievement.

b. They create temporary work for people and ostensiblyincrease the Gross Domestic Product

c. Among unscrupulous politicians, this is a source of what is

known as SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) forkickbacks.

We all hate traffic congestion. We all want to breathe fresh air.

5. What is Road Sharing Movement Proposal

Road Rev seeks to:- Share the roads and

public space for people

- Compel thegovernment to put upefficient, inexpensive,and locally-made publictransportation system.

- Give people who wantto use non-motorizedtransportation system aplace to walk and bike.1

- Convert parking lotsand road space intogreenery, especially forurban vegetablegardens. This willalleviate hunger andgive people theopportunity to planttheir own vegetables.

- Open up more parks sothat our people willhave places for

inexpensive recreation. Today, our people only havemalls to go to as their places of recreation. Theseplaces make are not only unhealthy to the body, they arealso unhealthy to the spirit and to the pocket because wefeel even more need to have money when we enter thesecathedrals of consumerism. It also does not promotesocial interaction. Notice that there are not even benchesor chairs in malls. Why? Because the mall owner doesnot encourage you to loiter; rather it encourages you tokeep on moving to buy more things.

1 Distances of up to 2 kilometers are suitable for walking. Distances of up

to 8-10 kilometers are suitable for cycling.


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6. Is Share the Road Movement therefore about closing roads?

No, Road Rev is not about closing roads, rather it is about OPENING

Roads to people, instead of just for cars and motor vehicles.Road Rev is not about closing roads. It isabout Road Sharing, i.e., to share the roadswith people who do want to walk and bike.

7. What is the general plan for Share the RoadMovement

The general idea is to divide the present roadsystem into:All weather sidewalks (about ~ 30%

Bike lanes ~ 30%Collective public transportation system ~ 30%Edible gardens ~ 10%

Obviously this cannot apply to all roads.However, this can serve as a general guideline.

8. How are roads classified and how can thisroad sharing scheme apply?

Roads are classified as:Arterial roadsthose roads that connect one town or city to another.They are the major thoroughfares, highways.Collector roadsthose that collect passengers to the arterial roads__. They are sometimes called feeder roads.Local roadsthose that are generally narrow and are mainly used __to connect communities.

So, to apply our road sharing principles for example

Local roads that are narrow must be generally only for pedestrians and

bicycles.

Collector Roads may be divided into 40% for public transportationsystems running in an orderly manner (like the working principle of antsfollowing a single file). The other half can be divided into bike lanes, allweather sidewalks, and edible gardens.

Arterial Roads may be divided into:60-70% public and private non-polluting transportation systems30-40% for sidewalks, bike lanes, and edible gardens.

Again, this is only a general guideline and the sharing scheme may beconfigured as appropriate to the road conditions of a particular locality.


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There is no hard and fast rule. The only working principle Those whohave less in wheels must have more in roads.

Roads and public space must therefore be shared.

9. How can this be done?

This is not a simple request. It can be in the form of a legal petition thatmust be taken up by the concerned local government.

Under the law,2fifty (50) registered voters of a barangay (village), onehundred (100) voters of a municipality (town) and one thousand (1000)of a city or province can directly propose an ordinance with their localcouncil by filing a petition with their Sangguniang Barangay, Bayan, orSangguniang Panlungsod.

After filing, the concerned Sanggunianghas 30 days to take action.The Law also provides that if the Sangguniang fails to take favorableaction on the petition within the said 30 days, the voters can file apetition with the COMELEC to call for a referendum. By doing so, thequestion will be submitted directly to the people. (And with 98% of thepeople not owning cars, guess who will win?)

10. This is a good idea, but can it be done?It has been done! On June 12,

2011, the entire Osmena Blvd. inCebu City, a major road stretchingfrom the Provincial Capitol all the wayto Pier Uno (about 2.6 kilometers)was closed to motor vehicles. It wasturned into a peoples Park.

2 Rep.Act 6735, Peoples Initiative Act, and Sections 120-127 of RepAct 7160, Local Government Code.


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Children and families, walked and bicycled freely up and down theboulevard, breathing the clean air, and enjoying the camaraderie of

friends. What made the evenamazing was that there werespontaneous combustion of a

restored sense of wholesome fun andplay. People put up their own shows,some of martial arts dancing,aerobics dancing, bicyclecompetitions, skateboardingexhibitions, and the like. Familiescame out to enjoy and bond witheach other.3

11. What else has been done about the dream of urban edible gardening.

Believing that there shouldnot be hunger in our midst,RoadRev seeks to promote urbanedible gardens. In the generalscheme of the envisioned roadsystem, at least 10% of the roadmust be devoted to edible gardens.Para walang gutom!

In one Bgy. T. Padilla ofCebu City, local folk -- children,women, men, working with theirbarangay officialshave startedconverting their village into anedible garden village.

12. What are the benefits of this ROADREV proposal?

It will:

12.1 Restore address traffic congestion in the streets and restoreorder12.2. Reduce travel time and make it more predictable12.3. Instill self-discipline among our people. Disciple is the mostbasic element of character and community building.

3 A small Road Rev Event was held in Sept 24, 2011 in theheritage district of Cebu City.

SUN STAR DAILY,

OCT 14, 2011


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12.4 Return fairness in the use of public space12.5 Fairness in the use of public funds. Instead of infrastructure

funds used to build roads for cars and motor vehicles owned byonly 2-4% of the population, these funds will be used to improvepublic transportation system to standards that are better-than-

world-class.12.6

13public funds

2. Create a sense of place in4. Increase disposable income among people

Lessen costs of transportation, including purchase of cars Healthier people (exercise-walk)

13. What are the plans ahead?

Because people have seen tat it can be done, there are expressions ofinterest to do it in their respective communities.

Manila:Ongpin Street in the Binondo district of Manilas Chinatown is one of

the most motor vehicle congested. Under the leadership of a Filipino-Chinese organization, there are firm plans to close the entire stretch ofOngpin Street on January 22, 2012, and open it only for people. (January22 is one day before Chinese New Year).

Dumaguete City,In the University town of Dumaguete City, organizations of cyclists and

runners, schools and youth organizations have started the movement intheir city already. Last Sept 24, 2011, thousands walked the main street ofPerdices Avenue.

BaguioThe Road Rev Team is preparing to a big meeting, action planning,

and filing of petition and edible garden planting in the City of Baguio onJanuary 26-27, 2012.

IloiloIloilo has already closed down an entire newly constructed boulevardalong the Iloilo river and devoted it to pedestrians (Trenas Blvd). Themindset is ripe there. The Road Rev Team plans to visit Iloilo on Feb 15-16 to do the action planning, filing and edible garden planting.

14. How can you reach more people if you are only going to one city inLuzon, Visayas and Mindanao?

We plan to have it on video streaming and/or video-conferencefacilities of the schools.


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15. What is the near term plan for the first anniversary on theIndependence Day of June 12, 2012.

After the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao campaign from Januaryto March 2012, those who are willing and ready to do their RoadRev in

their towns and cities will begin to plan it. The final coordinationmeeting will be held in the School of the SEA in Bantayan Island onMay 11-12, 2012.

On June 12, roads around the country will be closed to motorvehicles and opened for people. On that day, children, youthorganizations, civil society leaders, public officials, etc. will also plantvegetables on the roadsides and empty lots.On this day, Independence Day, there will also be simultaneous pressconferences all over the country where the people will formally file theFilipino Declaration of Independence from Oil and Freedom fromHunger.

On June 13, petitoners/registered voters of the barangay, townof city, will formally file the Petitions with their concernedSangguniangs(councils). The objective is to change the road systemof their city/town to conform to the principle of Road Sharingthosewho have less in wheels must have more in roads.The Sangguniangswill have 30 days to consider and take favorable action on the petition.

This will be the beginning to a socio-political upheaval to upsetthe existing mindset . It is a revolution that will be waged to create ashift in the mindset of the road and transportation system to favorordinary people who do not have cars and give them their due of publicspace. It will also compel the government and other private sectors tocome up with a good and inexpensive public transportation system.

It will be a genuine revolution, not to replace people, there hasbeen enough of that and nothing much has happened because of theexisting mindset. It is a genuine revolutiona turn-aroundto replacea mindset that no longer works, one that has destroyed the land andthe soil, poisoned the air, and ruined the societal bonds of the beautifulpeople that are the Filipinos.

It is a revolution waged with only the sword of reason, the

firepower of the Law, and the violence of an idea whose time hascome.

To ex

Mindanao


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A similar activity is planned for a major city in Mindanao on the firstweek of March 2012.

What is the medium term objective of these activities?

(and the permission of the Barangay Captains and the Mayor of Manilahave been secured)

In addition, there is Executive Order 774 (December 2008) whichmandates that:

For the convenience of our good legislators, we will enclose adraft of the proposed ordinance and the Implementation Plan. The Planhas been prepared by top experts in spatial planning, land use,landscape design and traffic management.

16. Will it not cost a lot of money to separate the roads into portions forsidewalks, bike lanes, and lanes for the envisioned collectivetransportation system?

No, because we will hardly need additional solid infrastructure.All we need to do is to divide the roads generally into four parts. About(~) 30% of the space shall be devoted to sidewalks and walkways,~30% for bike lanes, ~30% for collective and non-pollutingtransportation system, and ~10% urban edible gardens.

To see how this works, please come to the June 12, 2011 event.

17. What is the Renewable Energy Train your group is building? How will itbe powered? Pedal, Solar, Wind? How can that be?


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This is known as the FilipinosSeCRETa Self-Contained RenewableEnergy Train.

18. If you will succeed in reforming the road system to favor walking,cycling and collective and non-polluting transportation systems, whatwill happen to the jeepneys and the jeepney drivers who will lose theirjobs?

No, no one will be economically displaced. The jeepneyoperators and drivers will be part of the solution instead of being part ofthe problem. We will show to themthe jeepney operators and drivers-- the super cost-efficiency of the Filipino SeCRET. They will see howmuch it will financially benefit them to transform their fleet to jeepneys,tricycles, etc. With the new system, they no longer have to burn theirmoney with their burning of gasoline and diesel.

We are now in discussionswith transport groups to help themunderstand and seize theopportunity to be a model of aFilipino ingenuity. It is also a

perfect chance to restore the spiritof Bayanihan in a community-based-and-owned model of apublic transportation system.

19. Why will you plant vegetables onthe roadsides and vacant grounds,even on the sidewalk cracks?

We have paved over with concreteso much of land that we no longer

have places to plant. By planting inany open soil and vacant (non-

I am one drop,

You are one drop

Of Water.

But together,

We will be

A raging river.


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concreted) spaces, even in the cracks of sidewalks, we are sending apowerful message to our government and our people: There is no reasonfor Filipinos to be poor and hungry. This collective action on June 12 bythe Filipinos to turn their city into an edible garden is also our own humble,but strong, declaration of freedom from hunger.

20. What if the local government does not heed your petition? What canthe people do?

The Law says that if the local legislative council (SangguniangPanlungsod) does not take favorable action on the proposition to passan ordinance within thirty (30) days, the voters who initiated the petitioncan call for a referendum. They can file a Petition with the Commissionon Election to set the date for the referendum when the proposedordinance will be submitted to a direct vote by the people.

Considering the number of people who have no motor vehicles,and those who like to walk, bike, and breathe clean air, guess who willhave the upper hand in the referendum?

The movement is backed up by a crack team of international andFilipino lawyers, scientists, and experts in different fields of expertise.They have organized a Legal Enforcement Action Team who will see thisthrough,pro bono, et amore.

21. In any revolution one must haveweapons, what are your weapons inthis Road Revolution?

We are waging this revolutionWith only the sword of reason,The firepower of the LawThe violence of an ideaWhose time has come!


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22. Once the writ is passed, who will be in charge of this?

The Local Government Units (LGUs) for one will be tasked for theimplementation and enforcement of the bike lanes.

23. How will this be implemented?

This will be implemented through an ordinance which are to beobserved by LGUs.

24. Where will this be implemented?

There is no specific City planned yet but the implementation would firststart from city to city. The ultimate goal is for this to be implemented notjust in Metro Manila or Cebu but throughout the country.

25. I can see that there are a lot of you here. Who are you all? Or Rather,who are you all representing?

We are representing the carless people of the Philippines and alsothose people who have cars but are heavily unsatisfied with the currentsystem.

26. How will you divide the road? Where will the lane for the people beplaced?

The road will be divided equally. A portion for it will be allocated as abike lane and walkway.

27. Will there be a new set of guidelines/rules to be implemented once thebike lanes are implemented?

Yes. To ensure safety and proper implementation, rules regarding theuse of bikelanes such as requiring only cyclists and runners in that lanewould have to be implemented. Aside from that, rules prohibiting publictransportation such as tricycles and motorcycles from entering suchlanes.

28. When you say bike lanes, does that include motorbikes?

No, only cyclist and runners are allowed inside the bike lanes. Anymotorized vehicles are not allowed.

29. How about private cars and public transportation such as taxis,tricycles and buses. Do you foresee any change in rules and guidelinesto be followed by them?

Yes. There would have to be rules prohibiting them from encroaching

the area allotted to the bike lanes. Rules regarding road etiquette forexample should be implemented.


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30. So you are saying that this would affect the public transportation?

Definitely, this would affect them. The road sharing movement aims tolimit peoples reliance in traveling in cars or jeeps for short distances

and promoting either walking or cycling instead.

31. You said that there will be rules prohibiting cars and buses fromentering the bike lanes. How can you ensure this?

Motorized vehicles will not be able to enter the bike lanes. Theproposal involves a barrier or much preferred, an island of plants,which would separate the bike lane from the road.

32. Will you not have any opposition from the side of car manufacturers?

33. Will this not cause heavy traffic?

At first it will. This would be a drastic change of a conventional norm.However, this plan would not immediately require the roads toimplement the share the road project. We will have to ease the peopleinto it. Requiring immediate change would inevitably result in a disasterwe all would want to avoid.

Thus the proposal of the this movement is to implement first this sharethe road project for example first on a certain day. For example on aSunday. See how it goes from there. Once people start getting used tothe system, we add another day implementing this, such as having iton weekends (Saturdays and Sundays). This would go on for weeks,months until this is to be implemented daily.

34. What are the reasons why people ride cars to places instead of usingthe public transportation?

There are a lot of reasons why. Safety, unreliability of publictransportation, quality, delays, flexibility are a few of thosereasons.(http://www.governing.com/blogs/view/gov-reasons-riders-

abandon-public-transit.html) One of the aims of the Share the Roadmovement is to require the government to take actions about theseinefficiency and safety issues regarding public transportation.

35.Given that in order for this to work, the public transportation system should first beimproved/fixed before actually sharing the road. How long will this probably take?

As this is a gradual process wherein we ease the people through thischange, it would probably take months or years. Depending on howquickly people adapt to the change.

36.Have you conducted a survey regarding this? Who are those for andagainst this.
http://www.governing.com/blogs/view/gov-reasons-riders-abandon-public-transit.htmlhttp://www.governing.com/blogs/view/gov-reasons-riders-abandon-public-transit.htmlhttp://www.governing.com/blogs/view/gov-reasons-riders-abandon-public-transit.htmlhttp://www.governing.com/blogs/view/gov-reasons-riders-abandon-public-transit.htmlhttp://www.governing.com/blogs/view/gov-reasons-riders-abandon-public-transit.htmlhttp://www.governing.com/blogs/view/gov-reasons-riders-abandon-public-transit.html


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Yes, _________________.

37. Has this been done before? How do you know it will work for MetroManila, Makati or any other major cities?

Yes, it has been done in a few provinces such as ______. It woulddefinitely work in the city. Currently there is an area in Makati,_________, a subdivision which has implemented this and they arecurrently successful.

38. What can I do to participate in this movement?

You only have to contact ______.

39. Do you think the Philippines is ready for something like this?

Yes. At the start, people might think that they are not ready. A hugechange like this is definitely daunting. However, this process is gradual.We would ease the people through this change. It could start with amonthly application of the share the road ideals. Eventually, as peopleget used to the change, it will turn weekly and so on. Until before weknow it, we are already doing it daily.

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