MOVING PEOPLE TO A BETTER TOMORROW

Freddie Tinga posed two critical challenges experienced by developing cities: traffic congestion and air pollution. The latest figures suggest that traffic congestion alone cost the global economy more than a trillion dollars last year while air pollution, on the other hand, caused seven million deaths a year. In the Philippines, there are over 200,000 jeepneys nationwide with 80,000 in Metro Manila - accounting for 40% of public transport and 30% of air pollution. To solve this, Mr. Tinga emphasized the need for creating a smart and efficient transport system in the country. 

With technology on the rise, the development of smartphones and e-vehicles brings us a step closer to solving the transport issues in the country - all of which are core elements of Freddie Tinga’s EV production firm, Global Electric Transport. Global and local partnerships from the manufacturing and data analytics industry have led them to create the country’s first air-conditioned electric bus, COMET, coupled with a comprehensive smartphone data-driven transport app, GETPASS. “We are not just in the business of building the vehicle itself and selling it. Our business model and our approach is creating an ecosystem,” said GET CEO Freddie Tinga during the 8th Liveable Cities Lab on Mobility held last September 8.   

GET’s system monitors the COMET from the doorway to the highway. It has now expanded to a multitude of digital services functioning as a payment system, personnel management system, and contact tracing system in the wake of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic - creating not only a sustainable transport solution but an ideal smart one. To ensure that its sustainable transportation system stays in place, the company adopted the Bayanihan Business Model to include engineers, programmers, and people involved with on-the-ground operations. Mr. Tinga then concluded by saying, “This is an exciting time for us, we feel we have a global solution that we are polishing here in the Philippines. It’s a solution that will be able to transform a lot of urban environments around the world.”

Other articles on Building an E-Vehicle Ecosystem:

• IT TAKES A COUNTRY TO BUILD AN EV ECOSYSTEM - Art Tan
• PH TOWARDS AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRIFICATION -  Corazon Dichosa
• LGUs AND EMOBILITY - Dr. Manuel Biona
• ACCELERATING E-VEHICLE DEVELOPMENT - Alan Pilz