29/07/2025
I N S I G H T | Can carless Sunday programs encourage a healthier citizenry?
By VINCE ANGELO FERRERAS
In his 4th State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. encouraged more LGUs to have more open spaces and implement car-less Sundays so people can engage in physical activities, lead healthier lifestyles, and fight obesity.
Because in cities that have implemented the program, people in their athleisure best who are out on a run, groups of bikers enjoying a ride, families leisurely taking their pets for a walk have become the norm on Sunday mornings.
In Makati, the Ayala Car-free Program is clocking in some 23,000 people — more than double its initial 10,000 figure when it started in September 2023.
Quezon City’s six-month-old Car-Free Carefree Sundays program, launched just last December, is peaking at 5,000.
Pasig City, which pioneered the carless streets on Emerald Avenue and Caruncho Avenue way back in 2011, has already replicated the program in at least five other streets in the city.
Like Marcos, concern for residents’ health and well-being are at the heart of these carfree programs in Metro Manila. "Coming from the pandemic, we had noticed that people had gotten used to staying home. Isolation and depression were very real issues,” Misha Quimpo, project development manager at Ayala Land, said on email. So they implemented the car-free Sunday program in September 2023 “to bring the community together." It was such a hit that the program has been extended as other cities across the country soon followed.
Quezon City meanwhile is has been closing off a segment of Tomas Morato Avenue from 5am to 10am every Sunday to “prioritize health by encouraging walkability and healthy lifestyles, developing bike lanes, and increasing street connectivity” and “emphasize the importance of public spaces,” according to QC Ordinance SP-3345 S-2024.
It’s been mainly successful. Merly Cruz, who lives around Tomas Morato, has religiously been taking part of the program since its inception in December, and has in fact suggested to the QC government to turn it into a weekly event. Merly said it helps her to keep fit. “Senior na kasi kami,” she tells GMA News Online, adding she likes attending the regular two-hour zumba sessions but the freed up avenue has also been helpful in getting her steps in.
New to the neighborhood, Cara Santos decided to benefit from the program on the first Sunday of July, inviting her friends from other parts of QC to do as they used to at the carless UP Oval: Walk the emptied Tomas Morato.
But she said something insightful: Her friends driving to join her for a carfree day “defeats the purpose of lessening the carbon footprint of cars that pass during these hours every Sunday, lessen the pollution they produce.”
Air Pollution
Cara is on to something. The World Health Organization attributes “7 million premature deaths every year to the combined effects of outdoor and household air pollution– with millions more people falling ill from breathing polluted air.”
It adds that “more than half of these deaths are recorded in developing countries.”
According to the United Nations Environment Program meanwhile, “Air pollution is a major global health crisis and causes one in nine deaths worldwide.” In the Philippines, 40,000 deaths were caused by fine particle pollution (PM2.5) in 2021.
“The deadliest illnesses linked to PM2.5 air pollution are stroke, heart disease, lung disease, lower respiratory diseases (such as pneumonia), and cancer. High levels of fine particles also contribute to other illnesses, like diabetes, can hinder cognitive development in children and also cause mental health problems,” UNEP added.
In 2021, the WHO set the air quality guideline for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) to 15ug/m3 for a 24-hour time period and PM10 to 45ug/m3 for a 24-four other time period.
Vincent Vinarao, assistant department head of QC’s Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Department points out that the transport sector makes up 22% of the city’s GHG inventory, contributing 91% of air pollutants. With the absence of vehicles on the road, even for just a few hours, the QC government hopes it will be able to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality.
The same with Ayala Land, who wants to promote cleaner air “even if it’s just 2% of the week.”
Dr. Fatimah Ahmed, the chief scientist at Malaysia’s Sunway Centre for Planetary Health says “there have been a number of studies showing a short-term drop in the concentration of pollutants emitted from traffic sources such as nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter in areas where car-free days are implemented.” So more than simply fighting obesity, implementing carless programs could solve the bigger health risk of air pollution and actually improve air quality.
But Gerry Bagtasa of UPD College of Science’s Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology points out improving air quality is not as straightforward as implementing carless weekends.
Carless does not really mean there are no cars present, Bagtasa explained. They are just being rerouted.
“Rerouting to parallel na road one block away means doon sa road mismo na nilalakaran ng mga tao would have reduced concentration of air pollution,” Bagtasa said. It won’t necessarily be zero, and emissions from other roads can still find its way where people are, but at the very least, pollution will have been reduced.
He echoes Vinarao in saying air pollution is mainly from the transport section, estimating around 70% of air pollution in Metro Manila comes from cars. Reports estimate some 400,000 vehicles traverse EDSA on a typical day, after all.
This is why the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) decided to build vertical walls on EDSA as early as 2012. “Ang nasabing environmental urban development ay tinatag upang tugunan ang problema ng pagtaas ng polusyon sa hinaharap, upang palamigin ang mga lungsod,” said Francis Martinez, director of MMDA’s Metro Parkways Clearing Group.
“Bukod dito, naniniwala ang MMDA na maganda ang landscaping sa kabahan ng ating mga kalsada. Ito ay nagbibigay ng mental at emotional na benepisyong dahil ito ay lumilika ng mga magagandang tanawin para sa mga pedestrian at motorista,” he added.
Found along the underpasses in Ayala Avenue, Boni Avenue, Shaw Boulevard, and Cubao, these green walls are made of bouganvillea plants, which are easy to maintain and can stand against pollution, the MMDA said.
“Ang bugambilya po, less maintenance, matibay pa sa pollution. Kung makikita naman yun sa sidewalk, sa center island, mga bugambilya at the same time, yung nakakagilid is luha ng dalaga,” said Martinez. “Yan po, kahit hindi mo diligin ng dalawang araw, tatlo, buhay po yan. Lalo na po ang bougainvillea.”
There have been some studies in Saudi Arabia and in Thailand that back bougainvillea having high tolerance against vehicular pollution.
Ahmed clarifies, “A plant’s tolerance to air pollution doesn’t equate with its ability to help reduce air pollution,” explaining that tolerance actually refers to a plant’s ability to survive and grow well in polluted areas.
“In cities, more tolerant plants are usually chosen because they survive better, help reduce air pollution, and look attractive. Plants clean the air by absorbing pollutants, breaking down harmful chemicals, or providing surfaces for pollutants to settle. Bougainvillea is one example of a tolerant plant that helps reduce air pollution,” adds Ahmed, who holds a PhD in Environment Sciences.
Bagtasa notes however that ornamental plants may not be enough to mitigate the air pollution, saying bigger trees are much more effective — if reducing carbon emissions is the goal.
“Kung ang purpose is to reduce the carbon emission or reduce pollution, wala siyang (ornamental plants) ginagawa. Kasi ang isang sasakyan, kapag gumamit ‘yan ng 1 liter of gasoline — 1 liter of gasoline for modern cars is around 10 km of travel — produces 2 1/2 kilograms of carbon dioxide,” Bagtasa explained. “So dapat punong malaki na ‘yan na may bigat na several thousands kilograms.”
“They do absorb but just a very small amount. Kumbaga not relevant sa na-e-emit ng sasakyan na dumadaan [...] If you have a tree na several thousand kgs ang weight niya that means na yung carbon dioxide na several thousands kgs went into the three. But if you have a plant that is one pound, one pound lang din yung na-absorb na carbon dioxide,” he added.
Says Ahmed, “vertical gardens and green spaces like parks have been shown to help reduce air pollution — in some cases recording a higher than 60% reduction in air pollutants. But it’s a mixed bag. Several factors come into play such as type of plant, rainfall patterns and humidity. There have been some studies that show concentration of secondary air pollutants such as ground level ozone may not necessarily be lower, depending on the types of plants.”
“Plants release substances into the air called biogenic volatile organic compounds, which are not harmful on their own, but when mixed with air pollution from traffic, can react to form secondary air pollutants, depending on the type of plant and the mix of compounds,” she said.
One example of this secondary pollutant? Ozone. “Presence of ozone at ground level where we breathe in air is bad for human health. It can also reduce crop yields. This doesn’t mean we should dismiss plants as bad, but only that we should also consider the type of plants we want to have in urban spaces especially in areas with high volumes of traffic.”
Beyond Carless Programs
In 2022, Valenzuela did one better than running a carless program: The LGU permanently closed off Fatima Avenue to vehicular traffic and instead pedestrianized it.
Unlike Makati or Quezon City, it wasn’t so much to encourage their residents to lead a healthier lifestyle. And despite having air quality that is often higher than the latest WHO guidelines, closing off Fatima Avenue wasn’t exactly to improve their air quality or lower down pollution.
“We thought there was a better use for it,” said King Urieta of the LGU’s Cultural and Tourism Development Office and the head of its park and events division office.
The 230-meter two-lane uphill street has a school, a museum, and a church.There are gorgeous 30-year-old narra trees that cool its environs and provide shade, while a row of shops and eateries give it a lively vibe. Often it has heavy foot traffic that its side walks, littered with utility poles cannot accommodate: Some 3,000 students walk the streets on weekdays, while hourly masses of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima attracts 1,500 pilgrims. These pedestrians spill on the streets, “so imagine the chaos pag sumasabay ang mga sasakyan,” Urieta says.
They started looking into Fatima Avenue before the pandemic. They tapped the firm of architect Gerald Lico, held public consultations, and when the pandemic hit and “the attention of people zoomed in on public spaces, nag-timing talaga.”
It took all of eight months to transform Fatima Avenue to what it is today. If Ayala and Tomas Morato see thousands of fitness junkies plying the streets on Sundays, Valenzuela’s Fatima Avenue witnesses an idyllic Sunday scene: “Kakain, mamamasyal, tatambay, magba-bike. Naibalik sa public yung street,” Urieta said.
Where before it was mainly students and pilgrims walking, “now you have yung mga namamasyal,” Urieta illustrates. There are those also walking their pets, on top of an increased number of joggers and zumba enthusiasts. “Mas safe siya kasi pati motor bawal” he added, clearly pleased with the project.
Valenzuela is a highly industrialized city with a wealth of factories calling it home. Its air quality index is often double the WHO guidelines but Urieta says it isn’t so much the factories affecting the air quality as it is the nearby MacArthur Highway.
The LGU is having a hard time determining the real air quality of Fatima Avenue because of its proximity to the national highway, “and habang tumatagal, lumalala ang air quality ng MacArthur highway because of traffic congestion,” Urieta said.
He shares an observation: There are now less people jogging the highway, while Fatima has seen an increase in joggers and zumba enthusiasts. “So you can conclude breathable yung air sa lugar,” he says.
Urieta said something important: “By building the project, by closing off motorized vehicles on Fatima, we were able to protect the trees and by protecting the trees, we were able to preserve its cool climate.”
It’s an important point to make as the climate changes and we deal with extreme heat, especially during summer. The Valenzuela LGU leaned on nature, planting shrubs on the ground, and putting plant boxes in place to augment the trees. They chose local plants with the goal of “palamigin yung lugar” which has encouraged more active, less sedentary populace.
More Solutions
Urban planner Kathy Nothstine, told that “there are lots of different interventions that need to be taken” when trying to solve air pollution, improve air quality, mitigate climate change, and encourage a healthier lifestyle.
“A carless day can be a good demonstration of what’s possible, but you’ll also need to invest in infrastructure and support other modes of transport that are zero carbon or low carbon, more active transport, and build parks. There’s a whole range of solutions,” said Nothstine who is the head of Future Cities at Challenge Works.
Ahmed adds, “The key thing is to reduce emissions of pollutants into the air in the first place. Nature-based solutions like planting trees and expanding parks can definitely help, but they should be seen as supporting measures, not the main strategy.”
“The real focus should be on policies and actions that prevent pollution in the first place, such as improving public transport, shifting to cleaner energy, stricter vehicle emission standards, and regulating industrial pollution,” she adds.
Fatima Avenue is one of the nine parks the Valenzuela LGU has built since 2015, bucking the findings of the UN Habitat Cites World Cities Report 2024 that say “the share of green spaces in urban areas globally decreased from 19.5% in 1990 to 13.9% in 2020."
While replicating Fatima Avenue will be difficult because “it’s unique in that it connects different facilities through its green corridor,” Urieta said the Valenzuela LGU is planning a big pedestrianized, bike-friendly loop that connects five barangays — one way the LGU is combatting the rising air pollution from MacArthur highway and improving with city's air quality.
"That’s why we maintain the bike lane in MacArthur highway because malaking bagay for the factory workers who use bicycles to go to work. We also want to put new cycling routes para mabawasan ang sasakyan. Ganun din within the second district kasi habang tumatagal, the air quality especially in MacArthur highway, with the worsening traffic happening everywhere, nag-iiba," Urieta says.
Encouraging zero-carbon transport, alongside building parks and protecting trees and other natural ecosystems are examples of mitigation, climate action that cities can take amid changing climates and the host of health problems that bring.
Meanwhile, Quimpo says the Car Free Sundays on Ayala is just "one part of a much broader vision" of Ayala Land. By 2050, they plan to "transform Makati into an urban green network" so air quality and heat indexes can be improved. They are also looking to "reduce car dependency and make urban mobility more inclusive and sustainable" by increasing accessibility through mass transit projects.
Bagtasa on the other hand is contemplating on two things: Modernizing vehicles as another possible solution in addressing air pollution — “Yung mga bagong sasakyan are more efficient so less emissions” he said — and implementing congestion fees, at least on certain hours "so spread out mo yung pag-emit because less traffic would entail less emissions.”
On EDSA, the MMDA has proposed to plant trees in the middle of EDSA, particularly near the bus carousels, as well as along C5 and Roxas Boulevard.
“Yung puno na matibay sa init at yung bougainvillea na lang for the whole stretch of EDSA,” Martinez said.
The MMDA official also said that there were talks with the Marikina local government units to plant fire trees along Marcos Highway.
“Actually, meron akong proposal which is in-approved naman, pinre-proposed namin ni Vice Mayor ng Marikina… sabi ko yung fire tree dyan, after ilang years, pag namulaklak lang yan, ang ganda-ganda niyan,” he said. “Ang problema lang, tumataas yun. So, ang gagawin na lang ako, iti-trim na lang natin.”
Meanwhile in QC, the local government is already planning to replicate the carless Sunday program in each district, as it mulls to put up more public spaces.“Our aim is at least one car-free, care-free Sunday venue per district of Quezon City,” said Margarita Mejia, head of QC Business Permits and Licensing Department, the office leading the technical working group on the program.
Because QC found another positive in implementing the carfree program: Better public service. As the carless program allows residents to really engage with their city at the street level, so too does it give public officials on-the-ground access.
"Every Sunday, nakikita namin kung anong yung establishments na maayos na nagdi-dispose ng kanilang basura, nalalaman natin na yung iba palang mga kanal, grabe yung garbage. At yung iba naman, yung talagang mga mabago na na yung kalye, kailangan na namin tumawag ng BFP para mag-flushing," Mejia said
So perhaps the President is on to something when he suggested for more LGUs to open more parks and implement carless programs. These makes can do more than combat obesity.
SOURCE : GMA NEWS ONLINE
