GET’s e-buses can electrify Philippine transportation, but find fewer drivers and commuters aboard

Global Electric Transport (GET) spent nearly a decade building an electric bus system before the Philippines passed its first electric vehicle law. Now it’s running into behavioural speed bumps

Over the past nine years, Global Electric Transport (GET) has been setting up a network of electrified public transport

With local governments, power utilities, telcos, semiconductor companies, and car manufacturers in its corner, first-mover GET was able to bypass barriers to entry, but a bigger challenge still awaits

For all the resources at GET’s disposal, there’s something they can’t buy. As support for existing modes of transportation remains strong, GET has to find other inroads

Until Filipinos begin embracing electrified transport, GET has to identify and serve other types of customers. Its partners provide a clue about its plan to win public favour

The Philippines has six national symbols: the martial art Arnis, Filipino Sign Language, the Sampaguita flower, the Narra tree, and the Philippine pearl and eagle. But ask a Filipino what truly symbolises their daily life, and they’ll probably tell you about jeepneys.

After World War II, locals repurposed American military jeeps into public buses, adding fabric covers on their tops and foam benches for passengers.

Adorned with streamers, horns, and paintings depicting everything from the religious to the bawdy, nearly 3oo,ooo jeepneys rule the roads, accounting accounting Changing Transport Modernizing Public Transport in the Philippines Read more for 40% of trips on motorised vehicles.

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Isabel Martinez

Isa is based in Manila. She covers Southeast Asia's and the Philippines' media, employment and work, policy and investments, and other sectors reshaping consumer life.

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