LAST Dec. 9, 2025, representatives of civil society, including persons with disability, joined Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez and Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon on a “walk-through” inspection of EDSA from Ayala Ave. to the Mall of Asia (about 5 kilometers) to experience the daily struggle that thousands of Filipinos face.
They observed many sections without sidewalks and bike lanes. Where there were sidewalks, paths were usually obstructed by utility poles and other barriers, leaving almost no space to walk. Bike lanes were of poor quality and with many missing sections, leaving cyclists vulnerable to collisions with motor vehicles. Their conclusion was that EDSA was a hostile and unsafe environment for those on foot or on a bicycle, more so for persons with disability.
Some would argue that EDSA was designed to be for motor vehicles and should continue to be treated like an expressway, limited only to motor vehicles. Wrong. The original plan, prepared by Antonio Toledo in August 1939, was for EDSA to be tree-shaded and pedestrian-friendly. On each side of EDSA, Toledo designed 10-meter-wide tree-shaded walking spaces. If only this pedestrian space had been preserved instead of being whittled down to almost nothing. Still, part of this can, and should be, restored.
Even if EDSA was once called a highway, it is today a road traversing densely populated urban areas with abundant commercial activity through its entire length. It has become a major public transport corridor for the metropolis. There are many more and diverse users — not only those in cars — who need to be served adequately. EDSA’s future is as a boulevard, attracting and catering to the full range of road users. To achieve this potential, EDSA needs to be transformed into a people-oriented corridor, which should be the outcome of the ongoing EDSA Rebuild.
Despite long-standing laws (Batas Pambansa 344 or the Accessibility Law and Republic Act 7277 as amended — the Magna Carta of Persons with Disability) that guarantee that public infrastructure should be fully accessible for persons with disability, EDSA failed this test. Through most of the December 2025 walk, persons in wheelchairs were compelled to travel on the carriageway, mixing dangerously in the same space with cars and motorcycles. There were even portions of EDSA where those in wheelchairs had to be carried up and down stairs by several individuals.
Mobility is a basic human need and fundamental right. If a person is unable to move around her locality, she is denied her basic rights and freedoms. An estimated 15 percent of the population has some physical incapacity (and every one of us will experience disability at some point in our lives). When inhospitable infrastructure can be used only by the able-bodied and brave, this means that many millions of Filipinos are deprived of fundamental rights.
This unfriendly pedestrian and cycling environment not only exacerbates the suffering of ordinary Filipinos, it pushes more of us into car dependency. When the more efficient and sustainable travel modes become difficult, unsafe or unavailable, Filipinos are compelled to use a car or motorcycle as soon as they can afford to, worsening road congestion and generating more heat, noise pollution and harmful emissions. This is why car-centric approaches are harmful even for car users.
One of the ready solutions to our worsening mobility is to create safe and attractive walking and cycling pathways on EDSA so that, for relatively short trips, even car and motorcycle owners will be willing to leave their vehicles at home. Those who walked EDSA that December day agreed that the ongoing EDSA rehabilitation should deliver this important outcome, even if it means reducing the road space available for private motor vehicles.
Transport planners point out that road space devoted mainly for cars is the least efficient and most environmentally damaging use. Therefore, transforming some of the EDSA carriageway into safe pathways for bicycles and pedestrians enables five to 10 times more people to travel on the same road space, without creating heat, noise or harmful emissions. This enhances the utility and inclusiveness of the country’s most important corridor. Moreover, it would give real meaning to the directive in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 that pedestrians and cyclists should be accorded highest priority in the hierarchy of road users.
On EDSA, it is time to abandon car-centric approaches that have not worked and only induced greater motor vehicle use, with all of its damaging consequences. In a country where only six percent of households are car owners (11.5 percent in Metro Manila), there is no justification for protecting the welfare of the small minority inside cars while the rest of society suffers.
Improving the walkability, bikeability and accessibility of EDSA can be one of the meaningful legacies of the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration, with highly visible outcomes that are pro-poor, pro-environment, pro-health, pro-road safety and pro-tourism. EDSA, as the most traversed corridor in our country, should be the showcase of pedestrian infrastructure that is fully compliant with the legal requirements of Philippine Accessibility Laws.
It should no longer be acceptable for the rehabilitation of EDSA to simply improve the quality of the carriageway without enhancing the road’s utility, safety and attractiveness for Filipinos without cars. Preserving the status quo will be a huge disservice and injustice plus a massive waste of limited budget resources. Filipinos deserve better. Even those who own cars will welcome the transformation of EDSA into a walkable, bikeable corridor, fully accessible for persons with disability. We need to make this vision a reality.
Robert Y. Siy is a development economist, city and regional planner, and public transport advocate. He is a co-convenor of the Move As One Coalition. He can be reached at mobilitymatters.ph@yahoo.com or followed on Twitter @RobertRsiy.
