Jeepney modernization
This mess plaguing the government’s jeepney modernization program is expected. The government’s top-down approach means the jeepney drivers were hardly consulted.
It also seems the project was rushed and supplier-driven. DOTr, under former president Rodrigo Duterte, should have asked PIDS to do a proper study that covers all aspects of the plan and not just force the drivers to buy so called “modern” jeepneys. Actually, a cash-strapped administration should have left the jeepneys alone. Unlike the economic elites that demand subsidies and rent-seeking favors, the jeepney operators and drivers only want to be left alone to earn a living. The only time they need a subsidy is when the government refuses to give them a fare increase after a significant rise in diesel price.
Jeepneys have long been a good example of grassroots entrepreneurship. Many OFWs, upon their return, buy a jeepney. Katas ng Saudi is proudly emblazoned on the jeepney’s side. This is how they declare their economic self-reliance. Jeepneys should have just been a stop-gap measure. When WW2 ended, jobless Pinoys converted “surplus” jeeps the Americans left behind into a means of public transport. Our train system was destroyed by the war and this was a creative response.
The jeepney has evolved through the years. Sarao and Francisco Motors created extended versions, some long enough to accommodate more than 20 passengers. It featured colorful folk art, was powered by noisy second-hand diesel engines from Japan, and blared music almost loud enough to wake up the dead.
The jeepney culture showcased Pinoys at the grassroots depending on themselves, not on government, to get their families out of poverty. Many jeepney drivers were able to send their children to college. Some of those kids are now happily middle-class professionals.
One of them explained on social media why planning the jeepney modernization program should have included them. After all, she said, there are now urban planners, transport engineers, and lawyers among the children of jeepney drivers. They can help design a just transition to a new modern era for public transportation if only they were asked.
She raised valid points that proves how detached DOTr decision makers are to the realities on the ground.
First, she complained that drivers who want to participate in the modernization program must join a cooperative. To form one requires a fee of P300,000 and every driver must pay P20,000. If there are 20 drivers, they must raise P400,000 or a total of P700,000. That’s money they don’t have.
To get a loan from a government bank, the drivers must present a Local Public Transport Plan, something that many LGUs have neglected to do. Without such a plan, no loan.
Then, the government is only willing to give a subsidy of P360,000 to buy the so-called modernized jeepneys that cost as much as P2.8 million. Why should the jeepney drivers pay for a program that the government initiated without consulting them?
She brought up the situation of older jeepney drivers who are about to retire with no social security pension. Disallowing their units is like stealing their only means of livelihood in their old age. They can rent out their jeepneys to younger drivers and live on the “boundary” paid daily.
Worse, the jeepney modernization program is not modern enough. DOTr’s modern jeepneys still use diesel. That means it will not clean our polluted air that is making metro residents and commuters sick. It also means our public transport sector remains hostage to oil producers and their constantly rising prices. Modernization should have been the opportunity to free ourselves from these two evils. Modern jeepneys should be running on electricity.
DOTr should have learned from an experiment in using all-electric mini buses in Davao City. Endika Aboitiz and Freddie Tinga called their project COMET or Community Optimized Managed Electric Transport.
Freddie explains: “It is about leveraging new technology to create light, flexible, and disruptive solutions that address current traffic and transport problems at the fraction of the price of the current transport infrastructure that is being envisioned…”
I asked Freddie how COMET’s cost of operation compares with diesel powered jeepneys.
“Jeepneys on the average have a mileage of 5.5kms per liter. Last year, when the price of diesel went up to P92.00 per liter, the cost per km = P16.72.
“Modernized” Euro4 jeepneys with aircon have a mileage of 3.2 kms per liter. With diesel costing P92.00 per liter, this means that cost per km = P28.75.
“The COMET motor consumes 290 watts per kilometer. The COMET aircon and electronics consume 2.3 kW per hour. Assuming the COMET travels 200 kms over 14 hours a day then the total electric consumption for the COMET will be about 450 watts per km. With electricity costs at P10.00 per kWh, this means the COMET cost per km = P4.50.
“So, in other words we operate at about 1/6 the fuel cost of the Euro 4 diesel.
“The important thing with the Davao experiment was to show that electric vehicles could operate the same number of hours if not more than their diesel counterparts.
“The COMET can and should, and will take the place of the jeepneys, UV express, and other similar forms of transport on the street today.”
Tinga is also not just selling a “modern” jeepney. He is selling a system. His approach is to partner with the transport cooperatives.
“We cover half the vehicle cost, while they get a government loan to cover the balance, and then we share in the operating profits. The coops get the vehicle with no money out, and we make sure it runs and makes money for both of us – otherwise we lose our shirts. We are taking on most of the risk. This week we will sign with a fresh batch of transport coops who will upgrade to 317 COMET electric minibuses – so they must like what we are presenting to them.”
We need this kind of innovative thinking to address this festering public transportation problem. Our mobility must be brought to the new tech age. This is real modernization. DOTr’s modernization program is half baked or worse, fake.