Transportation
Why Electric Vehicles Are Only One Part of Solving Manila's Traffic Woes
The Philippines wants its “jeepney” buses to go from diesel to electric. Critics say business practices must change, too.
There’s a type of vehicle so quintessentially Filipino that it’s even referenced in a chart-topping 1970s pop song about an expat feeling homesick for Manila. These flamboyantly decorated “jeepneys”—which are only found in the Philippines—emerged after World War II, when Filipinos transformed the jeeps the U.S. Army left behind into a means of public transport. By extending a jeep’s frame and adding a tin roof and steps leading to seats, it became more like a bus.
Today, 80 percent of people in Manila use public transport, and at least half of their daily rides are in jeepneys, says the transportation and urban planning expert Benjamin de la Peña.