The University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) have officially launched two projects aimed at providing eco-friendly transportation systems to the state university’s sprawling campus.
According to a recent report, the University collaborated with DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) for the development and eventual rollout of the transport projects.
Intelligent Electric Transportation Network
The first project, which is called “Intelligent Electric Transportation Network” (IntElect), is a fleet of electric tricycles.
Also included in the project is a monitoring system developed by the University. This tracks, monitors, and provides data on these e-vehicles (EVs).
Before being launched, the EV project had a test run conducted in UP Diliman as well as in Cagayan State University for months. Both campuses were given 10 e-trikes from the Department of Energy (DOE).
According to the program leader of the IntElect project, there are currently 10 e-trikes that will be deployed in the University’s Diliman campus.
A major part of the IntElect project, moreover, is a ride-sharing and guidance system. The system will compute the optimal locations of charging stations in the area.
Additionally, one of the key developments done by the project proponents is improvement on the EV charging time as this is now significantly shorter.
A mobile app for ride hailing was also developed. The e-trikes are initially expected to service UP personnel, but can possibly be expanded to service more passengers in the near future.
UP Bike Share
Meanwhile, the second initiative is the “UP Bike Share” program. This is said to be a fourth generation bike-sharing system, which is monitored via a wireless tracking sensor.
The UP Bike Share currently has 40 bikes situated around 10 stations in the Diliman campus.
This program is designed primarily for students. Plus, the program also comes with a mobile application that provides monitoring and security features.
Students need to register and pay a fee of Php 50 (US$ 0.96) a month or Php 150 (US$ 2.88) per semester.
Once registered, the student needs to do the following steps in order to use the program:
- Go to the designated station
- Select a bike
- Text the server with the format “B<going> to <destination><bike number>.”
- A code will then be sent to the student which will enable him or her to use the bike and lock it.
The project leader of the UP Bike Share program shared that 100 students have already registered.
Security was highlighted as one of the early problems encountered during its development. It was eventually addressed with the advances in monitoring technologies.
The bikes are equipped with a security feature, which automatically locks if the bikes are taken out of the UP Diliman campus.