[sustran] E-Jeeps

[guillen at sk.tsukuba.ac.jp]

Hello,

I just want to share news re:environment- friendly public transport
mode from the Philippines :)


Cheers,
Marie Danielle V. Guillen
Urban Transportation Lab.
Graduate School of Systems & Information Engineering
University of Tsukuba
Tsukuba City, Japan

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Jeepney electrifies Makati folk

By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Last updated 06:31am (Mla time) 07/05/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- On their first excursion in the streets of the metrop
olis Wednesday, the two brightly painted “e-jeepneys” did not roar at all.

They did not even purr.

For that matter, they did not hiss, or cough, or sputter, like all public
utility jeepneys do. Instead, these Earth-friendly cousins of the jeepney
wove their way around the Makati central business district quietly -- and
with nary a puff of smoke from their glossy behinds.

Costing P500,000 each and running on batteries charged via electrical
sockets overnight, the 12-seater e-jeepneys had a test-run along Ayala
Avenue as part of a study on the feasibility of using this mode of
transport on a metro-wide scale.

And from Wednesday’s demonstration under the hot mid-morning sun, city offi
cials, environmentalists, business executives, and even pedestrians and comm
uters were of one mind: They liked what they saw.

“Imagine the jeepney as a purely electric machine that belches nothing, mak
es no noise, has a high headroom, comfortable seating and large windows,” S
olar Electric Co. (Solarco) president Panch Puckett said.

“You may even pass the mike around and enjoy sing-alongs while on your way
to work,” he added.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, who was among the first to drive the e-jeepney,
described the experience as “like riding a golf cart.”

Push button gets it going

“It’s very easy to ride. Because it’s lighter, the jeepney drivers who ar
e so used to the heavy diesel engines will feel a little weird at first, but
 it only takes a short while to get used to it,” Puckett said.

“You do not hear the engine running. It’s very silent and there’s even a
radio for you to check if it’s on,” Joey Salgado, the city’s information
and community relations department chief, said.

And how to start the vehicle? “You just push a button,” Salgado said.

As the e-jeepneys traversed the busy section of Ayala Avenue, pedestrians
on the sidewalks stopped to watch them whiz past, trailed by photographers
and cameramen.

Drivers on the other lane rolled down their windows to watch the convoy,
whose route started from the corner of Paseo de Roxas and Ayala Avenue
toward the G3 Park in front of the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, and back.

For Binay, the e-jeepneys represent the future of road travel in the
financial capital.

Nationwide production

“We hope that we can introduce the electric jeepneys in other cities nation
wide,” he said during a brief program after the test run.

“Electric-powered jeepneys are set to revolutionize the Philippines’ most
recognizable icon,” Greenpeace campaign director Von Hernandez said.

The e-jeepneys are a venture of Green Renewable Independent Power Producer
Inc., which sprang from Greenpeace and other groups, and Solarco, which in
turn is a part of GRIPP.

Alternative to pollution

The campaign is part of GRIPP’s Climate Friendly Cities Project, a multi-pr
onged program for mitigating climate change that promotes transport and wast
e management initiatives through renewable energy-based technology.

“The e-jeepneys aim to demonstrate that there are climate-friendly alternat
ives to the current polluting modes of public transportation in the Philippi
nes,” said Athena Ronquillo, GRIPP chair and lead proponent of the e-jeepne
y initiative.

“The iconic jeepney remains but without wasteful and carbon emitting diesel
, and while providing increased incomes to the vehicles’ drivers,” she add
ed.

Celebrities like Amanda Griffin, Juddah Paolo, Richard Gutierrez and
Georgina Wilson, who all support Greenpeace, also graced the affair.

“Considering it has no gas tank (just a battery compartment), the e-jeepney
 runs purely on stored electricity, resulting in a much quieter and fumeless
 trip,” Puckett said.

“Diesel-powered jeepneys actually waste more fuel while idling. In the case
 of the e-jeepney, when the driver steps on the break, the engine really sto
ps. It doesn’t idle,” he said.

Long-term prospects

The battery that makes an e-jeepney run has a two-year warranty.

The e-jeepney can run 120 km on a single charge of eight hours, Puckett said.

“If the driver travels at an average speed of 40 kph nonstop, that translat
es to a three-hour working day. But the stops can extend his hours because t
he battery is not used up,” Puckett said.

Binay said the city government and its partners had begun talks with major s
takeholders, particularly leaders of jeepney drivers’ associations, about t
he long-term prospects of the project.

“We have no intention of phasing out anybody in this business,” Puckett sa
id.

“This is just to keep people aware and open their minds that there are alte
rnative engines -- we’re not talking about bodies but engines -- in a marke
t that can clean the environment,” he added.

Break from the past

On Wednesday, Binay signed an agreement for the leasing by the city of the
two e-jeepneys from GRIPP. If the test run proves feasible, the city will
lease more units, officials said.

Binay said they were also looking into the economics of the project.

“If the e-jeepney can help increase the income of jeepney drivers by removi
ng their expenditure for diesel, then all the more reason for us to push ahe
ad with the project,” he said.

For Puckett, the introduction of the e-jeepney means “we have no choice but
 to improve our lives according to these innovations because everything just
 keeps getting better and better.”

He said: “The e-jeepney will definitely change the way we think, design, dr
ive, ride, and experience the mode of transportation that has become so much
 a part of being Filipino.”