Biking to almost everywhere has become popular in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. With most of the public transportation still suspended, people use their two-wheeled vehicle that is powered by pedaling to buy groceries, to work out, and even to go to work.
“Providing incentives for people who bike to work is a small price to pay for its immeasurable benefits,” said Ang Probinsyano Party-list Representative Ronnie Ong. He said the proposed legislation that aims to require protected bicycle lanes must also include incentives, like tax breaks, extra pay credits, or food vouchers for employees who bike to work.
The lawmaker gave a couple of countries as an example. He said in The Netherlands, the government pays citizens $0.22 or ₱11 for every kilometer cycled free of tax. In the United Kingdom, bikers who take their bicycles for business purposes are given a “mileage allowance” of around $0.26 per mile or approximately ₱13.
“Of course these are rich countries, so we could instead provide incentives in the form of food vouchers which can only be used to buy food commodities,” he noted.
Ong emphasized that by doing this, the government could persuade more individuals to continue cycling in their daily commute even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
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