Poor weather causes Iloilo City bike traffic drop in 2025

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

Iloilo City’s cycling volume fell sharply in 2025, with the latest Bilang Siklista report released Wednesday, Nov. 19, showing a 33.3 percent decline from 2024 levels.

While the report initially cited a 42.38 percent drop, a comparison of the 2025 and 2024 counts showed 4,716 cyclists across 11 locations in 2025, down from 7,070 cyclists across 10 locations the previous year.

The 2025 count, conducted Sept. 10, recorded 2,271 cyclists in the morning and 2,445 in the afternoon, a clear decrease from 2024’s 2,987 morning cyclists and 4,083 afternoon cyclists.

The busiest junction in this year’s bike count was the Huervana–Burgos Street intersection in La Paz, which logged 397 morning cyclists and 569 in the afternoon.

The biggest decline occurred at the Fishing Port area in Molo district, where cyclist numbers dropped to 316 in 2025 from 788 in 2024.

Most Iloilo City locations saw reduced activity, with significant drops recorded along Benigno Aquino Avenue and Lopez Subdivision in Arevalo.

The Benigno Aquino Avenue–Taft North intersection, the busiest location in 2024 with 941 cyclists, registered only 578 this year, placing it second overall.

The Benigno Aquino Avenue–Ungka intersection also declined, falling to 229 cyclists in 2025 from 456 in 2024.

Lopez Subdivision likewise posted a steep decrease, with 281 cyclists in 2025 compared with 552 last year.

The report attributed the overall decline to poor weather conditions during the count period.

“The reduction in cyclist volume may be attributed to rainy weather conditions during the count period, which likely discouraged cycling activity,” the report stated.

The national report also recognized Iloilo City, along with Quezon City and Marikina, for integrating bicycle counting into regular planning.

In 2024, Iloilo City deployed enumerators across 10 locations, while the 2025 count expanded to 11 locations.

Both counts showed consistently active cycling corridors, demonstrating steady bicycle use for daily mobility even as weather affected total numbers.

Comparative data indicate that Iloilo City continues to maintain visible cycling activity along key transport routes, though the 2025 decline underscores the sensitivity of ridership to weather and other external factors.

Despite the drop, Iloilo City remained the second-busiest cycling area in the Visayas, though its decline contributed significantly to the region’s 30.6 percent decrease in bike commuters — the largest regional decline among the country’s three major island groups.