Citizen Voices Are Reshaping Manila’s Transport System Around People
On most days, Doc Mau, a disability advocate and Manila local, walks between 5,000 and 10,000 steps on crutches, choosing routes within the city with even sidewalks and clearly marked crossings. She pauses to catch her breath along tree-lined paths before continuing her commute. “It helped me a lot in my mental well-being,” she said of these improvements to the streets and sidewalks. “I don’t fear going outside anymore.”
For Doc Mau, these changes have transformed her daily routine. For years, moving on crutches around the Philippines’ capital meant navigating steep or broken walkways, boarding vehicles not designed for her needs and facing the unspoken expectation that she should be traveling with assistance rather than alone.
Her experience reflects that of millions of commuters in Manila, where daily travel often includes overcrowded jeepneys (the city’s open-air minibuses), unsafe streets for pedestrians and long, unreliable commutes in a system built primarily for cars rather than people.
This car-oriented design serves only a small share of residents. Just 6% of people in Manila own private vehicles; the rest walk, cycle or rely on public transport. Yet despite being the overwhelming majority, pedestrians and other noncar commuters historically had little influence over how streets and transportation systems were planned. “Transportation policy used to talk about cars as if they were the default user,” said Robert Siy, a longtime transportation advocate and Manila local.
That imbalance shaped budgets and standards, leaving pedestrians exposed to traffic, cyclists without protected bike lanes and public transport workers facing job and income insecurity. Bus users also faced unreliable service and poorly designed stops. “Before, I never used to ride a city bus because I would be scared I'd miss my stop," recalled Riz Comia, a regular commuter in Manila. “There were no formal stops before, so it felt dangerous. And because I get lost a lot, I was scared of it.”
That’s beginning to change. Today, Doc Mau’s improved experiences getting around the city reflect a broader shift. Across Manila and other cities in the Philippines, transportation planning is gradually becoming more people-centered, driven by sustained citizen-led advocacy through the Move As One Coalition. An alliance of 142 civil society organizations and more than 77,000 individuals, including transport workers, youth leaders and everyday commuters, Move as One Coalition works to put people, not cars, at the center of transportation policy.
A Coalition Born from Crisis
The coalition emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Manila’s transportation inequities became impossible to ignore. The suspension of public transit exposed the city’s dependence on an inadequate and unreliable transport system. Transport workers lost income overnight, while essential workers struggled to reach jobs, markets and hospitals. What commuters had long experienced as a daily strain became a national emergency.
Frustrated by government delays and driven by the urgent need for health care workers to commute safely, cycling groups created makeshift bike lanes using containers filled with water and rocks. Meanwhile, Move As One launched a Change.org petition calling for transportation reform. Online support quickly grew into a broad coalition uniting jeepney drivers, bus operators, commuters, disability advocates, women’s groups, youth organizers, LGBTQ+ activists and cycling groups. Previously, these groups had pushed for reforms separately. But Move As One aligned them around a shared strategy that amplified their collective voice.
Shifting the Story from Cars to People
Before Move As One, transport debates had long been centered on one main question: “How can we move vehicles more efficiently?” The metrics at the heart of those discussions, such as congestion, travel speeds and traffic flow, implicitly served car owners. Move As One flipped the question by focusing on safer, more equitable ways for people to get around the city — a fundamental shift in a city where 94% of people walk, bike or take public transport.
To support this shift, the coalition invested in research and data to determine who benefits from transport spending and who is left out. One such analysis found that just 1% of road spending supported public transport, walking or cycling. The finding became a rallying point and helped reset the terms of policy debates.
“Data and research are crucial to our advocacy work,” said Ken Abante, a co-founder and advisor to the coalition. “We use our data and research to make sure that our decision-makers have the best scientific evidence they need when deciding about urban mobility in our cities.”
Because Move As One brings together diverse stakeholders, its advocacy addresses overlapping needs at once: affordable fares for riders, fair compensation for workers, safer travel for women, accessibility for people with disabilities, expanded service for under-served communities and low-carbon mobility. By organizing across sectors, the coalition has turned fragmented demands into collective action, reframing transportation as a public service that shapes the livelihoods, health and opportunities of millions.
In this Series: WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities Finalists
Turning Advocacy into Policy Change
Armed with data, Move As One members knock on doors, cold-call officials, testify at Senate and House hearings and build relationships inside city halls and national agencies. They organize demonstrations and public actions, including accessibility audits and street walkthroughs that bring lawmakers onto key roadways and transport corridors to experience unsafe conditions firsthand.
At its core, the coalition’s demands are simple: Elected officials should deliver what commuters and workers are owed — safe streets, reliable transport and fair working conditions. “For the longest time, we have accepted as Filipinos that we deserve this kind of public transportation service,” said Rycel “Hya” Bendaña, the national coordinator of the Move As One Coalition. “But Move As One Coalition is changing that perception. We deserve better, we demand better, therefore we move for better.”
The coalition’s efforts have paid off.
It has influenced decisions affecting an estimated $946 million in immediate transport funding and $12 billion in medium- and long-term funding, helping redirect investment toward safer, more inclusive mobility. In Manila, that includes redirecting public funds to create a pedestrian boulevard along the Pasig River and supporting a car-free zone in Manila’s historic district of Intramuros as a people-friendly public spaces. It also includes the implementation of a dedicated busway along the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), Manila’s main arterial highway, with dedicated stations, safer, inclusive pedestrian access and structured boarding. Across the country, more than 1,200 kilometers of bike lanes now connect neighborhoods in several cities.
Other gains are less visible but have had a transformative impact on transportation workers in Manila. Reforms supported by Move As One have improved pay and working conditions for tens of thousands of workers, many of whom had long operated in informal arrangements.
“During the pandemic, we were barely breaking even — our income couldn’t even cover fuel and daily expenses,” said Maria Angelica Mata, coordinator of the National Confederation of Transport Workers Union and a coalition member, describing the working conditions of bus drivers, who were typically paid based on passenger volumes. “With Move As One pushing for service contracting, we were finally paid per kilometer, not just by passenger fares. That meant we could pay our loans, cover our costs and actually earn something again. It made a real difference in our lives.”
A Movement Built on Trust
Move As One’s success rests as much on relationships as on policy. The coalition is informal, volunteer-driven and independently funded. “With Move As One, we gave everyone a platform to connect, to meet each other, to hear each other’s common struggles, to create that shared sense of solidarity and to form consensus,” said Bendaña. “This ensured that whenever there are public policy proposals being passed, all voices that must be heard are being equally presented.”
Internally, members describe the coalition as close-knit and supportive. “If we are just individual people fighting for our own interests, then such efforts have no real impact at all,” said Romeo Macaio, a transport worker in Manila. “Through the collective power and unity of our strength, we are able to achieve what we aim for.”
Externally, Move As One has built lasting relationships with both elected officials and career civil servants. By bringing diverse stakeholder perspectives into policy discussions, the coalition helps explain government initiatives in clear terms and connect city and national agencies. Over time, those partnerships have turned advocacy into collaboration, helping sustain reforms even amid leadership transitions.
“The Move As One Coalition is more of a Swiss Army knife for government. They have everything we need, offering media support, technical expertise, financial insight, budget advocacy and strategic guidance all in one,” said Mark Steven Pastor, undersecretary for road transport and infrastructure at the Philippine Department of Transportation.
Building Power from the Ground Up
A cornerstone of the coalition’s work is the Young Mobility Leaders program, which trains young advocates across the Philippines to collect data, analyze budgets, engage with officials and mobilize communities so they can lead campaigns in their own cities.
In an archipelago of more than 7,500 islands, transport reform cannot be dictated from Manila alone. By organizing local workers, commuters and young leaders, the coalition helps shift influence beyond the capital. Alumni have carried this work into cities such as Cebu, Batangas and Naga, adapting the coalition’s tools to local contexts and priorities while contributing to a broader national movement.
“We bridge the gap between local communities and government,” said Dom Nobleza, a graduate of the Young Mobility Leaders program and now a community organizer for the Metro Naga Active Transport Community, a grassroots advocacy group working to improve transportation in the Metro Naga area. “Now people have a platform to speak up, shape budgets and pass ordinances that make our city healthier and more livable.”
Why It Matters Beyond Manila
Cities everywhere face similar questions: How can transport systems reduce emissions, improve safety and expand access all while serving the millions of people who rely on them most?
Move As One offers an answer: Put people and their voices at the center of transportation policy instead of building systems designed primarily for cars. The coalition shows that citizen-led groups can reshape policy at scale, even in complex political environments. By organizing communities and engaging policymakers, it has turned everyday experiences into catalysts for systemic change.
For Doc Mau, that change is felt in the simple act of navigating the city independently, along more accessible sidewalks, safer crossings and shaded green spaces, all without fear. For Manila, it marks a shift toward a transport system that reflects the lives of the millions, not just a small minority.
Move As One Coalition was selected as one of five finalists for the 2025-2026 WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities, which celebrates projects and initiatives catalyzing healthy cities. The Grand Prize Winner, which will be selected by an independent jury and will receive a $250,000 grand prize, will be awarded in April 2026.