By Rainier Allan Ronda (The
Philippine Star) | Updated January 7, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines – Power utility
giant Manila Electric Co. and Aseana Holdings are keen on adopting the electric
road train system of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
DOST Secretary Mario Montejo said
the agency welcomes private companies intending to adopt the ERT technology
which is seen to solve the worsening traffic and mass transport problem in
Metro Manila.
“We’re glad they are seeing the
potential of the ERT to be one of the best possible solutions to our public
transportation problem especially in Metro Manila,” Montejo said in an
interview with The STAR.
“We understand the acceptance of the
technology will come bit by bit. And most likely, when the public see the
benefits and when these private groups try out the technology and it works and
it is beneficial, then the technology will be embraced by the people,” Montejo
said.
Montejo said Meralco, through its
unit MRail, has been looking at, and even participating in public biddings for
rail projects of the Department of Transportation and Communications.
Aseana Holdings, on the other hand,
is reportedly interested in setting up an ERT line in the vast Aseana City
central business district located within the Pagcor Entertainment City.
“I think a MOA (memorandum of agreement) has
been drafted already,” Montejo said.
It will be recalled the Clark
Development Corp. (CDC) earlier expressed its interest in setting up an ERT
line inside the Clark economic zone and “Green City” located in Clark,
Pampanga.
Laying out an ERT line along EDSA
will relieve the congestion by absorbing the excess passengers of the Metro
Rail Transit (MRT).
Montejo earlier met with executives
of bus companies plying EDSA and advised them to form themselves into a corporation
or a cooperative to establish an ERT line along EDSA, and gradually give up or
phase out their ageing, and smoke-belching buses.
“We really see this as a
game-changing, out of the box solution to our problem of severe traffic
congestion along EDSA and it should really be given a chance. It is a locally
developed technology, Filipino engineers and workers will be put to work to
build the road trains, and because of this, we can build and deliver the units
fast as less than a year, up to as early as within 10 months,”Montejo said.
Several bus owners have expressed
their support to the proposal.
If successful, the road train system
can expand into other major public transport routes in Metro Manila such as
Quezon Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue, among others.
Designed by Filipino engineers and
made with locally available parts, the 40-meter long train-like bus is composed
of five interconnected fully air-conditioned coaches, four of which can
accommodate 60 passengers each for a total of 240 commuters per ride. The last
one is the power coach.
The ERT can run with a maximum speed
of 60 kilometers per hour. It is mainly powered by hybrid diesel fuel and
electric-powered battery.
The train is designed to be
energy-efficient, which means it does not need electricity and suspended cables
to operate.
The ERT has very low smoke emission
compared with existing mass transport vehicles, making it an eco-friendly mode
of transport, the DOST said.
Aside from the ERT project, the DOST
is also pursuing an ambitious project to develop an Automated Guideway Transit
(AGT) system inside the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon
City and inside its central office complex in Bicutan, Taguig City.
The AGT adopts a radial wheel tire
technology for a rail line system.
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