THIS week and next, the government of Quezon City is conducting public consultations on a proposal by Councilor Irene Belmonte for a car-free Tomas Morato Avenue every Sunday. Please check the Quezon City government social media pages for details on these consultations. I fully support the proposal for car-free Sundays on Tomas Morato. Here’s why.
Filipinos need places where people can stroll, jog or bike, push a stroller, walk their pets, meet up with friends, explore interesting shops and restaurants, and watch other people amid a relaxed and festive atmosphere, without exposure to automobile exhaust or the risk of being hit by a motor vehicle.
The demand for these kinds of public spaces is due to the shortage of parks and similar open spaces in most of our cities. While shopping malls remain popular, people also want a different experience, especially the chance to be outdoors and to breathe fresh air.
Just look at other venues that are car-free on Sunday mornings — Roxas Boulevard along Manila Bay and the Ayala Triangle in the Makati Business District. Families and friends flock to these venues in large numbers. Despite local restrictions on motor vehicles on Sunday mornings, people make their way to these sites in whatever manner they can. Many take public transportation, walk, or use a bicycle —even if it is not their normal travel mode. To experience a car-free zone, they are willing to do something out of the ordinary. After all, it is a Sunday.
The biggest success story has been the car-free Sundays on Session Road in Baguio launched in 2019. The 1.7-kilometer Session Road has become the place to be on a Sunday, as well as the biggest new attraction for Baguio, motivating tourists from all over the country to visit the summer capital yet another time.
Without cars to worry about, big and small groups of people walk up and down Session Road, looking occasionally into doorways, stopping to watch various buskers, cosplayers and street performers, catching a bite to eat or having a drink or two at the many cafés and restaurants that line the road, and no one goes home without something in a shopping bag. Ask any vendor or business owner on Session Road and they will tell you that the car-free Sundays have boosted their sales.
Look at where tourists and residents congregate in great cities around the world. Many of these districts were not car-free decades ago, but, once particular roads were closed to cars, these areas became the very popular places. Think of Times Square in New York, Puerta del Sol in Madrid, the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Seoul — all unique and iconic community spaces where people regularly meet their friends and where they go for leisure, recreation, celebrations, or even just for a quiet walk. Tomas Morato Avenue could be one of those places.
A nearby example is in Jakarta, where two major roads, as busy as our EDSA — Jalan Thamrin and Jalan Sudirman — go car-free every Sunday morning. Over 100,000 Jakartans — people of all ages — take time out to breathe in clean air, stroll along the center of the boulevard, enjoy street food, ride a bicycle, play, dance or skateboard. Street performers and musicians abound. Visiting the big roundabout on Jalan Thamrin on a Sunday morning is considered a “must do” for any tourist visiting Jakarta.
One thing the Morato area has in its favor is that the entire South Triangle district is arranged in a grid. There are side streets in every direction, providing alternate access. There are numerous options for approaching Tomas Morato from any direction by any mode. And the local traffic management plan could still allow vehicles to cross Tomas Morato at one or more of the perpendicular streets.
Nevertheless, expanding public transport and active transport options to the Kamuning area should be a priority. There is good potential for several new high-frequency bus or modern jeepney routes that connect to the Light Rail Transit Line 2 Gilmore Station, to the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 Kamuning Station, and to other routes emanating from Elliptical Road and the Quezon Memorial Circle. The area could also benefit from more bicycle parking spaces along Tomas Morato.
Having parallel and perpendicular side streets also means there are many options for managed on-street pay parking. The time is ripe for rationalizing on-street parking, so that available pay-parking spaces are identified on different streets, clearly marked and with an app-based system for time-based parking charges and collection.
If parking is priced appropriately, this would ensure that there is a steady turnover of parking spaces, always allowing a few spaces to be available for anyone arriving by private car. Parking management would also discourage illegally parked or double-parked vehicles on narrow side-streets. I understand that the Quezon City government is already working on plans to introduce a modern parking management system in the area that can deliver these innovative benefits.
Some business owners may oppose car-free Sundays because of the reduction of parking spaces along Tomas Morato Avenue. Actually, each establishment along Tomas Morato Avenue only has a few parking slots for its customers, so most of their car-using customers end up parking alongside streets — yet those parking spaces will still be available and will be better managed in the future. The loss of a few car parking spaces in front of establishments along Tomas Morato would be more than compensated by even more customers who will be attracted to the area because of the novelty of a walkable and bikeable street and a car-free and pollution-free environment.
If Quezon City takes this plan forward, I have no doubt that it will be hugely successful. And if the city decides to make Tomas Morato car-free on ALL days of the week, I predict that it will become the “must-visit” destination in Metro Manila — a place where you would want to bring your balikbayan friends and relatives. And, as a plus, the neighborhood would benefit from less pollution and less noise from motor vehicles. How about Maginhawa Street as the next candidate for car-free Sundays in Quezon City?
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 [email protected] or followed on X (formerly Twitter) @RobertRsiy
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