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Now plying the streets of Makati, specifically the
Legazpi and Salcedo Villages, is the long-awaited and much-needed E-Jeepney.
“Long-awaited” because it was introduced 10 months ago but only
now has it been finally allowed by the Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board to hit the streets. The Department
of Transportation and Communication also only released the
guidelines for E-jeepneys’ operations last April 28, perhaps
adding to the delay.
The E-Jeepney project is
sponsored in part by the Dutch Doen Foundation and is jointly
undertaken with the cities of Makati, Baguio and Puerto Princesa, as
well the Green Renewable Independent Power Producer (GRIPP) and
Greenpeace.
GRIPP Chairperson Athena
Ballesteros said, “The Electric Jeepney is a win-win solution for
all stakeholders. It provides a climate-friendly alternative to
polluting, fossil-fuel based modes of transport, and enhanced income
to jeepney drivers. The government should be embracing this project
instead of letting the proponents suffer from long delays in
licensing and registration procedures.”
I fully agree. I believe the
electrification of public transport systems is one viable mitigating
option that would have a substantial impact in lessening the
economic and social costs brought about by the price volatility of
fuel prices. We have seen how people, particularly those who used to
drive their vehicles to work, have instead been flocking to the MRT
(Metro Rail Transit) and LRT (Light Rail Transit) stations to
commute to their workplaces.
The fact that more urban rail
transit lines are being developed is most welcome. The
electrification of transportation is a natural and highly efficient
response to the problem of high oil prices. The growth in worldwide
oil demand is driven primarily by the transportation sector, whether
they be motor vehicles, ships, trains and aircrafts. If we can
substantially reduce this demand even just in our own country, even
just for car use, then this would certainly help lower fuel prices.
Right now the possibility of
using non-hydrocarbon energy sources for transport is there, but it
may be years away for public use. For instance, we have been reading
for some months now how a bunch of engineering professors and
students from De La Salle University developed the Philippines’
first solar-powered car, aptly called Sinag. But whether we would be
seeing the widespread use of solar-powered cars in the next two to
five years is highly doubtful. Perhaps the technology is at best a
decade away for public use.
On the other hand, we now have
well-established modes of electrified transportation, which we could
improve on and expand. I’m not just talking about more MRTs and
LRTs, or more E-Jeepneys. Consider for instance the possibility of
using electric trains for transporting cargo instead of the gas
guzzling and accident prone second-hand 18-wheelers we have plying
our roads. Or why not expand the concept of E-jeepneys to come out
with an electric public transport vehicle that could accommodate
more people and would not clog lanes like jeepneys do, because they
would run only on a single rail. I’m talking of electric trolley
buses or the tranvia, which we used to have during the early
American period.
Back when the Philippines was
known as the Paris of the Far East, we had tranvias plying the same
routes as the jeepneys and the MRTs and LRTs do now. These tranvias
were owned and operated by the Manila Electric Railroad Company,
which today we know better by its acronym Meralco, Winston
Garcia’s best friend. The tranvias were a good idea then and they
are more so now. We should bring them back. They are not only
aesthetically pleasing tourist attractions, but they are also a much
more efficient mode of public transport than jeepneys. The only
reason why jeepneys came along to begin with was because after the
bombing (the so-called liberation) of Manila in 1945, the tranvia
system was wrecked and there was no money immediately available to
bring it back up again. People had to make do by improvising, using
the Americans’ army jeeps and making them into the public
transport vehicles we know as jeepneys today.
What we want is for more people
to go car-less to reduce oil demand. We want them to use public
transportation instead. But there is a reason why most families
would take out a loan to buy even just a second hand vehicle. There
is a reason why you see vehicles that are
accidents-waiting-to-happen still running in our streets. Because
mass or public transportation in the metropolis is still highly
inefficient. There is still the paniki brigade, which is what the
late Ka Louie Beltran used to call the hordes who would cling on to
the back of jeepneys in utter desperation of hitching a ride. Even
the MRTs and LRTs need more coaches, because their rides are packed
like sardines during the rush hours.
The government would do well to
use its oil E-VAT windfall to invest in large-scale electrified
transportation for the public, a crash program that will reduce
private vehicle use by maybe 10 to 15 percent in the next five
years.
This is doable. And the economic
and social benefits of reduced private vehicle use, from less
accidents and road deaths, for instance, or less pollution, would be
well worth the investment.
ernestboyherrera@yahoo.com
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