Underrepresented commuters eyed in transport planning

MANILA, Philippines – What if the individuals who use the streets on a regular basis designed the streets themselves?

The Division of Transportation (DOTr) is now creating a co-designing coverage to make that imaginative and prescient a actuality.

This was introduced through the Philippine Mobility Summit 2025, held on September 15 at One Ayala in Makati Metropolis, which gathered civil society, academe, the personal sector, and media to map out concrete steps for enhancing the nation’s transportation system.

Introducing the Accessibility and Inclusion Reference Group

In a proposed division order, the company will create the Accessibility and Inclusion Reference Group (AIRG), which brings collectively underrepresented commuters — corresponding to individuals with disabilities, the aged, and moms of younger youngsters — to offer direct enter on transportation tasks from planning to implementation.

The underrepresented finish customers that can be a part of the AIRG are: individuals with incapacity and restricted mobility, the aged, girls, expectant moms, young children, dad and mom with youngsters, LGBTQIA+ people, and even these carrying heavy or cumbersome baggage.

“These are usually not a small minority; they make up the vast majority of finish customers,” mentioned DOTr Supervising Transportation Improvement Officer Lucas Mangulabnan.

The AIRG features as an impartial consultative group that’s “frequently and intimately concerned with the challenge.”

The purpose is to permit people with lived expertise to offer direct enter at each stage of the challenge, AKA co-designing.

“They supply directive suggestions and suggest various options for implementing brokers to think about. The company can then instruct technical consultants and consultants to deal with issues, implement suggestions, or attain a mutually agreeable compromise,” mentioned Mangulabnan.

AIRG involvement continues all through the method, not solely throughout feasibility research, but in addition in authorized design, implementation, drafting of concession agreements for Public-Non-public Partnerships (PPP) tasks, operations, and upkeep.

This paves the way in which for considerate, sensible designs, the place accessibility and inclusion are at all times saved entrance and middle.

“They know they usually perceive the little issues within the passenger journey which can be typically ignored by technical professionals — issues like the peak of door handles, handrails, and seize bars; the issue of constructing a U-turn on a wheelchair ramp; navigating transfers from prepare to jeep to bus; and even discovering a restroom, [which somehow is] at all times locked.” Mangulabnan mentioned.

The DOTr is at the moment refining the authorized provisions for co-designing in a division order, with hopes of rolling it out quickly and conducting pilot exams.

The bounds of session

“The Philippine transport system has many flaws,” admitted Mangulabnan throughout his dialogue.

“Whereas it manages to maneuver thousands and thousands of individuals per day, we can not categorically state that it affords equitable entry to all,” he added.

Mangulabnan shared Rappler’s 2023 infographic, which tackled the lack of accessibility in Metro Manila’s railway community.

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He described these gaps, which persist regardless of the wealth of legal guidelines, insurance policies, and worldwide commitments, as “a systemic failure.”

“I’m but to come across a advisor with a visual mobility subject, or a international advisor that frequently takes the jeep, takes the bus, or rides an e-scooter,” he mentioned, reflecting on the composition of these historically concerned in transport tasks.

This, he added, is commonly a male-dominated discipline with little firsthand expertise of lively and public transport.

Mangulabnan burdened that an accessible and inclusive transportation system can’t be achieved by means of consultations alone. “Sawang-sawa na po tayo rito (We’re fed up with this),” he mentioned.

He famous that present practices restrict stakeholder participation to the challenge’s early phases, like feasibility research.

Getting began

As a part of the drive towards co-designing, the DOTr sat down with multi-sector teams through the summit’s two-hour breakout periods to debate points and concrete actions for public and lively transportation, in addition to public areas.

People of all ages from civil society, academe, the personal sector, and media have been grouped collectively to alternate and synthesize concepts.

Throughout an intense dialogue, Inexperienced Freeway Transport Cooperative challenge director Vicente Voi Aguilar, Jr. expressed frustration over a data-heavy strategy that yielded little motion.

“Naiinip na kami pare-parehas e. Puro knowledge, knowledge,” he mentioned, referring to each the DOTr’s data-gathering efforts and the discussion board itself. (We’re all getting impatient. It’s simply knowledge, knowledge.)

“For what? Ililibro niyo? Ipi-print niyo lang?” he added. (For what? You’re simply going to compile it and print it?)

He lamented that, regardless of rising up within the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s and observing transportation for many years, little had modified.

Aguilar burdened the necessity to have follow-up conferences the following few days to take care of momentum. 

“Let’s work collectively. ‘Di hanggang alasingko [lang] ng hapon. Tomorrow, we have now to fulfill once more,” he mentioned.

(Let’s maintain working collectively. This shouldn’t finish when the clock strikes 5. Tomorrow, we have now to fulfill once more.) 

Mangulabnan and different DOTr representatives agreed that collaboration should prolong past the summit.

This dedication was mirrored within the sector suggestions, which have been materialized into an official settlement and handed over to DOTr Undersecretary Mark Steven Pastor after the breakout periods.

Pastor signed the pledge of dedication and mentioned the division would evaluate and be sure that most, if not all, of the suggestions can be carried out:

Energetic Transportation

• Full Streets & common entry (PWDs, cyclists, pedestrians)
• Girls’s security & driver consciousness
• Bike infrastructure: obligatory parkings
• 15-minute cities & EOT services
• Combine lively & public transport; DOTr-DPWH coordination
• Mobility schooling, faculty partnerships, sector illustration
• Social accountability, street audits, modern tech

Public Transportation

• Built-in planning & governance (whole-of-government & society)
• Stakeholder coaching, secure methods, co-design for weak customers
• First/final mile integration & sufficient services
• Mobility hierarchy, transport choices, public notion shift
• Knowledge transparency & finance threat mitigation

Public Areas

• Individuals-first city design, zoning, inexperienced infrastructure
• PT entry close to public areas; human-centered design
• Skilled grasp planning & policymaker commuting expertise
• Protected Areas Act enforcement & inclusive PPPs
• Participatory planning, budgeting, group occasions

‘A actuality to ship’

Pastor acknowledged that “setbacks are inevitable” and there can be “coverage hurdles and institutional boundaries,” however expressed optimism that the federal government and residents will finally succeed.

“What we have now constructed here’s a basis for a long-term collaboration, and it’s the begin of an ongoing partnership that can assist us obtain nothing lower than a gold medal in mobility within the Philippines,” he mentioned.

“The gold medal we search just isn’t an emblem to show, however a actuality to ship: one the place each Filipino — no matter age, gender or social standing — can transfer freely, safely, and with dignity,” he added. – Rappler.com

Maria Czietherine Paghunasan is a Rappler volunteer and a graduating BA Communication scholar at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. She is a multimedia artist, with cartoons and comics revealed on Naver Webtoon Korea and in The Communiqué, the official publication of PLM CHASS.