By KC Santos
MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA - The local government of Makati launched the third loop for the e-jeepney as part of efforts to promote the city’s old landmarks and other notable destinations.
Dubbed the “Makati Heritage Route,” the route will show the side of Makati opposite the city’s central business district not traversed by e-jeepneys plying the first two “green routes” in Salcedo and Legazpi.
The free rides will cover around five kilometers from its jump-off point at the Makati City Hall toward Barangay Poblacion, the first settlement in Makati where several ancestral homes reminiscent of the old Makati remain intact.
On the way, the 93-year-old Museo ng Makati is an ideal stopover as the city’s repository of its heritage and culture. The museum served as Makati’s town hall until 1961. It currently houses archeological artifacts and rare collection of photographs that speak of Makati’s early days.
The General Pio del Pilar National High School, also accessed via the Poblacion route, was named after Makati’s local hero during the revolutionary period. It is also the first private academic institution in Makati.
Places for recreation such as the Poblacion Park and the Powerplant Mall are also promoted as ideal spots that are part of the route.
The Makati Heritage Route ends right back at the city hall.
The project is part of the Climate Friendly Cities initiative, which is a continuing waste management, sustainable transport and clean energy program spearheaded by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), a non-government organization that pushes for fair climate policies and cost-effective solutions for climate change.
ICSC Executive Director Red Constantino said that the NGO is working with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for the issuance of the commercial public transport franchise for electric jeepneys which will be the first of its kind in the country once approved.
Altogether, some 15 e-Jeepney units are plying the three green routes. The 100 percent Filipino-made electric transport was invented by Ariel Torres, the country's “first” electric vehicle (e-vehicle) maker.
Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. drove one of the five new e-Jeepney units and led its inaugural spin at the third newest route dedicated to public electric transport.
Loading and unloading areas of the new e-jeepney units are spaced every 400 meters. The Heritage Loop Route will service the public from Mondays to Fridays from 7am to 10am, 11am to 1pm, and 4pm to 6:30pm.
