GET to deploy 25,000 e-jeepneys

MANILA, Philippines - Global Electric Transport (GET) Ltd. is planning to deploy about 25,000 units of zero-emission jeepneys in the next five years to create a greener and cleaner environment in the metropolis.

Eric Cayabyab, GET training coordinator said in an interview on the sidelines of the Social Business Summit 2013 that the company would implement the so-called Comet to carry out an organized transportation system by fully-electric, zero-emission vehicles that could replace some of the existing 55,000 diesel-run jeepneys plying in Metro Manila.

“The idea is since we manage it, we will have the management system under Global Eletric Transportation Mobility Optimization (GETMo program), the garage, the maintenance and we will employ well-trained drivers from Gawad Kalinga communities,” he said.

Specifically, GetMo will provide customer support services, centralized fleet management, propriety cashless fare system, designated infrastructure, advanced and innovative vehicle design.

“At the core of GetMo is a vehicle designed to solve the social ills spawned from the most popular moved of public transport-the jeepney. By replacing a jeepney with one COMET, we remove 22 million grams of carbon dioxide and 120,000 grams of nitrogen oxide per vehicle per year,” GET country head Anthony Dy said.

Launched last month, the company started selling an initial 100 units of GET jeepneys but orders have already reached more than 200 to date. 

By January 2014, the company plans to sell another 50 units. With the introduction of 10 new routes within next year, it hopes to deploy an additional 5,000 units.

Based on the plan, around 400 units would be offered to individual investors while all the rest would be made available to jeepney drivers through the program which will allow them to replace their existing jeepneys.

“Because we want to have a cleaner Manila, we will be offering a program wherein existing jeepney drivers and operators will have an option to drop and substitute their jeepneys. So we will just replace the vehicle but not the driver,” he said. 

GET Ltd. president Freddie Tinga said, “we want to create a long-term solution that will improve the quality of life for everyone involved,” he said.

“We want to make sure drivers earn more than enough, and that they are provided with better work conditions. Through a partnership with Gawad Kalinga, we help our drivers to be the best they can be of our passengers and vehicles,” GK director Jay Meloto said.