If only three percent of the population have cars, why do they get 97 percent of the road, leaving the pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists to squeeze into the remaining portion?{{more}}
This question has always bugged Antonio Oposa, an environment lawyer who thinks, breathes and lives “outside the box”. And he wants to change this paradigm.
“Communities were built for people–not for cars,” Oposa says, as he tinkers with another revolutionary idea.
He is now in the process of talking with people and inviting them to take part in the Road Revolution, as he calls it. A Road Revolution would mean that at least 1000 voters would petition the local government unit to designate walking and biking lanes on one of our roads.
In Cebu, the people Oposa is talking with want to convert the 2.6-km Osmena boulevard into a no-vehicle zone so people could just walk, run or bike. In doing this, the people will have the law on their side, Oposa says.
Last Friday, Oposa met with kindred spirits in Dumaguete to convince them to adopt this idea for Dumaguete. The response was unanimous as everyone who was in that meeting was supportive of the Road Revolution.
He said it doesn’t have to involve all roads, saying the group could target one major road like the Rizal boulevard or Perdices street.
“I’ve been asked, ‘how sure are we that we will succeed?’” Oposa said. “I tell them there’s no template for a revolution. Secondly, I really don’t care if we don’t succeed for as long as we are able to shake the status quo and get people thinking towards this direction.”
Oposa said that his group in Cebu will declare independence from fossil fuels on June 12, which will be timed with the submission of the draft of the City Ordinance to the Cebu City Council.
Would Dumaguete follow the Cebu example?