Five more units of electric jeepneys (e-jeeps) will operate in the highly-urbanized Bacolod City under the franchise of the Cebu People’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CPMPC), owner-operator of the modernized People’s Jeep.
The additional units, which will ply the Fortune Towne-Central Market loop, complete the 10 units obtained by the CPMPC from Chinese-Korean e-vehicle company e-Future Motors Philippines.
In a statement, the CPMPC said the blessing of these units and also of their Bacolod satellite office April 5 is “furthering our commitment to sustainable transport”.
Macario Quevedo, CPMPC director for Transport Operations, acknowledged the support of Mayor Alfredo Benitez in the implementation of the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP) in the city.
“Your support for the program is driving real change literally,” he said in a Facebook post Saturday night.
Benitez, for his part, committed to putting up more charging stations to cater to these e-jeeps in the city.
“We are on track to making sure that there would be more charging stations all over the city to make it easier for our e-vehicles user,” Benitez said.
Bacolod-based e-Future Motors congratulated the CPMPC for the launching of the additional five units for its Bacolod route, calling the modernized e-jeepneys “a sustainable and environment-friendly solution.”
With the support of the city’s leadership, it is “looking forward to making e-jeep as the top of the mind choice for the PTMP implementation in Bacolod City,” the company said in a separate statement.
The CPMPC launched the initial five units in October last year.
The 10 units are part of the 60 franchises awarded by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to the transport cooperative to operate modern jeepneys in Bacolod.
“We aim to complete the 60 franchises. For now, we have the Fortune Towne-Central Market route. We’re working out the arrangements for other routes,” CPMPC president and chief executive officer Michael Abella said.
The CPMPC signed a memorandum of agreement with e-Future Motors in 2023 for the delivery of the e-jeepney units on a rent-to-own arrangement directly financed by the e-vehicle company.
e-Future Motors is a subsidiary of Jiangsu Fengchuen New Energy Power Technology Co. Ltd. Fengchuen. Its head office is based in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, China, while it has a factory in Jiangyin City. | PNA
