Philippine President’s Commuter Trip Into the Future: The Love Bus Returns

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Standing on the Valenzuela Gateway Complicated final Saturday morning, September thirteenth, I couldn’t assist however really feel transported again to the Nineteen Eighties. I wasn’t invited to the launch, however needed to be there — commuting over 120 kilometers from house base as a result of this was the “Love Bus,” an iconic commute within the Philippines.

I had no safety credentials, so I used to be watching from behind the steel trestles. There, President Bongbong Marcos Jr., on his birthday in the present day, September 13, formally launched the brand new Love Bus program, and recollections of my each day commute from Quezon Metropolis to Mandaluyong got here flooding again. These 12 kilometers that outlined my pupil years — air-conditioned consolation in a sweltering metropolis, a small luxurious that made the distinction between arriving in school drenched in sweat or able to be taught.

The unique Love Bus was revolutionary for the new bus rides within the Philippines. The diesel-powered Hino buses have been the usual car. It was former first girl Imelda Marcos’s 1975 brainchild, and for all its value, it gave us the Philippines’ first air-conditioned bus system. However for these of us who rode it by means of the ’80s, it wasn’t simply transportation — it was a glimpse of what public transport could possibly be. However like many formidable tasks of that period, it will definitely succumbed to monetary realities, leaving us with fond recollections and a eager for what may have been.

His birthday present for commuters

Quick ahead almost 5 a long time, and right here I’m once more, watching historical past repeat itself — however this time with a twist that made the event much more significant. President Bongbong Marcos Jr. had chosen to have a good time his 68th birthday not with a personal celebration, however by giving Metro Manila’s commuters the present of revived Love Bus service. It was a symbolic gesture that spoke volumes: relatively than receiving items, the President was giving one to the individuals who want it most.

The 20 modern electrical Love Buses that lined up earlier than us bore little resemblance to their predecessors, however the promise was the identical: comfy, dependable public transportation for Metro Manila’s weary commuters. This wasn’t only a transportation launch — it was a birthday current to a whole metropolis.

President Marcos, celebrating his 68th birthday with this launch, spoke of constant his late father’s legacy whereas embracing the long run. The connection wasn’t misplaced on me — right here was the son reviving what the daddy’s administration had began, however this time with electrical motors buzzing as an alternative of diesel engines rumbling.

Marcos additionally mentioned: “Please get pleasure from our new love bus to cut back fares, save financial savings, cut back visitors, cut back air pollution due to electrical.” (“We encourage everybody to reap the benefits of our new Love Bus to assist cut back transportation prices, save just a little, cut back visitors, and reduce down on air pollution since these buses are electrical.)

Expertise meets nostalgia

What struck me most about these new COMET electrical buses wasn’t simply their silent operation or their eco-friendly credentials — it was how they embodied every part the unique Love Bus aspired to be. The wheelchair ramps spoke to a extra inclusive imaginative and prescient of public transport. The cellular app integration meant real-time monitoring, one thing we may solely dream of within the analog ’80s. And, sure, they’re nonetheless air-conditioned, although now powered by clear electrical energy relatively than fossil fuels.

The American-designed, Chinese language-manufactured buses signify a worldwide collaboration that the unique Love Bus venture couldn’t have imagined. World Electrical Transport (GET) Philippines, working with Sensible Communications and backed by the technological experience of EV Dynamics, has created one thing that feels each acquainted and revolutionary.

The GET Metropolis Optimized Managed Electrical Transport (COMET) is an electrical minibus developed by American agency Pangea Motors and manufactured by EV Dynamics in China and distributed by GET. Typically characterised as an electrical mini-bus, it may be reclassified as a jeepney (e-jeep) just by reconfiguring the seating.

The partnership with EV Dynamics, a pioneer within the manufacture of electrical buses, assures that the automobiles are excessive tech, extremely environment friendly, and dependable. The manufacturing plant in Chongqing the place the COMET electrical minibuses are assembled has been producing these automobiles for worldwide markets.

Free rides

Maybe essentially the most hanging distinction is the fare construction — or, relatively, the preliminary lack of 1.

All through September, each passenger rides free. After that, seniors and PWDs proceed using for free of charge, whereas common commuters pay the same old fares (though I used to be advised that the fare system will embrace free rides throughout non-peak hours). It’s an formidable subsidy program. I’m uncertain if it should tackle one of many unique Love Bus’s deadly flaws: profitability.

I solely had time to board when the President went on to his subsequent exercise.

I couldn’t assist however calculate: if these buses serve 600 passengers each day per route as projected, that’s 1,800 folks throughout the three preliminary routes experiencing this upgraded public transport each day. Multiply that by a month of free rides, and also you’re a major authorities funding in altering commuter conduct.

Past Metro Manila

What excites me most about this revival is its scope. The unique Love Bus was primarily a Metro Manila phenomenon — I by no means noticed one throughout journeys to the provinces. However this new iteration has already carried out pilot runs in Cebu and Davao, with plans to increase throughout Visayas and Mindanao. The Love Bus is lastly changing into what its identify all the time recommended: a car for bringing consolation and care to Filipino commuters nationwide.

Using that gleaming electrical bus from Valenzuela to Parañaque, I thought of all the scholars who would possibly expertise what I skilled 4 a long time in the past — that second when public transportation turns into not simply bearable, however nice. The quiet hum of the electrical motor, the cool air con, the dignity of accessible design, the comfort of app-based monitoring.

The unique Love Bus died as a result of it couldn’t maintain itself financially. This new model carries the burden of that historical past, the promise of technological development, and the hope that sustainable public transport can lastly work within the Philippines. Whether or not it succeeds the place its predecessor failed stays to be seen, however for now, 20 electrical buses are quietly revolutionizing how we transfer round Metro Manila, one free journey at a time.

As I stepped off the bus on the Parañaque Built-in Terminal Change (PITX), I spotted I had simply accomplished a journey that started within the Nineteen Eighties — from a younger pupil grateful for air con to a witness of the Philippines’ electrical transportation future.

The Love Bus is again, and this time, I need it to remain.