Regulator issues permits to E-Jeepneys
08/01/2008 | 01:22 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Five electric-powered jeepneys, or E-Jeepneys, on Thursday secured permits from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to operate as slow-moving vehicles (SMV).
The registered vehicles will be given orange plates next week.
E-Jeepneys are battery-powered models of the jeepneys, which are extended versions of the World War II jeep.
Fully charged models from China can travel as far as 140 kilometers (km), while locally made nits can go as far as 60 km.
LTFRB Spokesman Leddy Tantoco said that as SMVs, E-Jeepneys are limited to operate in villages and subdivisions, and are banned from traveling in highways and expressways.
“SMVs are no different from regular vehicles, they have the same configuration," said Myrna C. Cabrera, LTO registration section officer-in-charge.
“The difference is speed," she added, citing SMVs can travel between 35 and 100 km/hour.
E-Jeepneys were launched on July 4, 2007 by the Makati City government, Greenpeace and Green Renewable Independent Power Producer (GRIPP).
The groups signed a memorandum of agreement to test-run E-Jeepneys for six months. The test period was a part of the “slow integration of E-Jeepneys for them to be acceptable," said GRIPP Chairman Athena Ballesteros.
At present, three E-Jeepneys ferry passengers for free in Makati City, one at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, two in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental and two in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
The free rides will end after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) approves GRIPP’s application for franchise. The E-Jeepneys will sport yellow license plates with orange LTFRB stickers.
Ms. Ballesteros said they plan to initially charge passengers a minimum of P8.50 pending a fare matrix that will be issued by the LTFRB.
She added they are willing to lower the fares since E-Jeepneys have lower costs compared with diesel-fed conventional jeepneys.
Orange license plates are currently issued only to electric-powered motorcycles and bicycles.
Other license plates issued by the LTO are green for private, yellow for for-hire, blue for diplomats and red for government service.
The unit price of an E-Jeepney is P595,000, halfway between a brand new jeepney at P750,000 and secondhand jeepney worth P350,000 to P380,000, Ms. Ballesteros said. By 2010, GRIPP aims to deploy 300 E-Jeepneys nationwide.
E-Jeepneys are exempted from the LTO’s noise test. — Neil Jerome C. Morales, BusinessWorld
The registered vehicles will be given orange plates next week.
E-Jeepneys are battery-powered models of the jeepneys, which are extended versions of the World War II jeep.
Fully charged models from China can travel as far as 140 kilometers (km), while locally made nits can go as far as 60 km.
LTFRB Spokesman Leddy Tantoco said that as SMVs, E-Jeepneys are limited to operate in villages and subdivisions, and are banned from traveling in highways and expressways.
“SMVs are no different from regular vehicles, they have the same configuration," said Myrna C. Cabrera, LTO registration section officer-in-charge.
“The difference is speed," she added, citing SMVs can travel between 35 and 100 km/hour.
E-Jeepneys were launched on July 4, 2007 by the Makati City government, Greenpeace and Green Renewable Independent Power Producer (GRIPP).
The groups signed a memorandum of agreement to test-run E-Jeepneys for six months. The test period was a part of the “slow integration of E-Jeepneys for them to be acceptable," said GRIPP Chairman Athena Ballesteros.
At present, three E-Jeepneys ferry passengers for free in Makati City, one at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, two in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental and two in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
The free rides will end after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) approves GRIPP’s application for franchise. The E-Jeepneys will sport yellow license plates with orange LTFRB stickers.
Ms. Ballesteros said they plan to initially charge passengers a minimum of P8.50 pending a fare matrix that will be issued by the LTFRB.
She added they are willing to lower the fares since E-Jeepneys have lower costs compared with diesel-fed conventional jeepneys.
Orange license plates are currently issued only to electric-powered motorcycles and bicycles.
Other license plates issued by the LTO are green for private, yellow for for-hire, blue for diplomats and red for government service.
The unit price of an E-Jeepney is P595,000, halfway between a brand new jeepney at P750,000 and secondhand jeepney worth P350,000 to P380,000, Ms. Ballesteros said. By 2010, GRIPP aims to deploy 300 E-Jeepneys nationwide.
E-Jeepneys are exempted from the LTO’s noise test. — Neil Jerome C. Morales, BusinessWorld
