By Angela Kiara S. Brillantes, Special Features and Content Writer

Transportation, as it intends to bring people and goods from one point to another, is crucial for making individual lives easier and helping businesses become more efficient in their operations. However, the Philippines’ transportation infrastructure can become more of a barrier rather than an enabler of economic development if its lacks and inconveniences are not completely addressed.

Given how much transportation affects many people’s lifestyles and economic activities, there has been a lot of discussion on how infrastructure and urban mobility can improve the Philippine transport system and prevent it from getting worse as days pass by.

This year’s BusinessWorld Economic Forum, themed “The Digital Future: Accelerating Business and Sustainability,” gathered Aileen Anunciacion R. Zosa, president and chief executive officer of Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA); EJ dela Vega, head of mobility at Grab Philippines, and Angeline Tham, founder of Angkas, to tackle how the country can further improve transport and mobility, and gear it further towards sustainability with the help of digitalization in the panel discussion themed “Redefining Transport and Mobility in the Digital World.”

As digitalization has accelerated across businesses, many sectors in the Philippines took advantage of digital technology as they recognized how it can positively impact business operations. In the transportation sector, both the public and private sector are seen to have been starting efforts, such as utilizing electric vehicles and shared mobility, to help improve the country’s transportation system and infrastructure.

Yet, as the panel agreed throughout the discussion, more than making operations more efficient, digitalization can also creat-e more job opportunities and expand customer options within transport.

For companies like Grab Philippines and Angkas, as Mr. dela Vega and Ms. Tham noted, they believe that technology is a tool in creating a transport system that will both serve consumers while also creating opportunities for service providers.

Mobility in a digital world has to be a whole-of-nation approach.

— EJ dela Vega, Director, Head of Mobility, Grab Philippines

Grab, Mr. dela Vega shared, has used digitalization to employ navigation solutions where customers can share their locations with family members, providing an alert to partner riders to their speed and work duration, and advising them to take a break when needed. In addition, Grab has also developed safety reports which are vital for preventing accidents in the future.

For Grab Philippines’ head of mobility, when Grab started going digital the company provided a more efficient transport system for both commuters and drivers in real-time.

“So, these changes where technology was able to come in, particularly with safety, that’s one thing. Now, even the simple ability to say ‘I’d like to share my ride with my family,’ we’ve kind of taken that with a press of a button. Everybody knows where you are, your friends or family know where you are, [and they] can trace the rides. So, I think those very small examples are the daily changes to the way you move around; those were all because we were able to employ technology,” Mr. dela Vega explained.

“We have built our own map solutions and navigation solutions. By doing that, we’ve improved the number of trips a driver can do by 7% in an hour. 7% seems small, but in the larger scheme of things that’s tens [to] hundreds of thousands of people served, just by having better maps,” he added.

He added, “We use telemetry data, for example in the car, using their smartphones to make it safer. Hopefully, we [will start] building safety reports. We understand driver behavior, but more than that we are trying to prevent accidents before they happen. 10%-20% of crashes are somehow related to fatigue, so something we’ve recently done is prompt drivers who have been online for too long, we say ‘Hey, maybe you need to take a break.’”

Our aim [at Angkas] is not to serve as many customers as possible but to support our [riders] to stand on their own two feet.

— ANGELINE THAM, Founder, ANGKAS

Ms. Tham of Angkas noted how the transport sector has used digitalization to provide customers another choice of how to get from one location to another.

“Digitalization is giving the customers the power to make more decisions for themselves. Before, if I wanted to go from point A to point B, I would’ve known how long it would take me to get a taxi or whether there’s going to be a long line for UV Express. So, [now, digitalization allows them to conveniently] use services that may be, in the past, something they have to do a lot of things to find. So, I think this helps them with efficiency; it really helps people to be more productive,” Ms. Tham said.

“Using digitalization, transportation is more convenient, customers can plan and use other services, and this helps them with efficiency and more productivity,” she also said.

The Angkas founder also notes that digitalization is giving companies the ability “to give the customers the power to make more decisions for themselves,” and as far as the motorcycle ride-hailing app is concerned, digitalization helps them fulfill an aim that goes beyond attracting customers.

“Our aim is not to serve as many customers as possible but to support our [riders] to stand on their own two feet,” she said.

As far as transport systems are concerned, the government needs to adapt a regulatory framework to make infrastructure more available to users.

— AILEEN ANUNCIACION
R. ZOSA, President and Chief Executive Officer, BASES CONVERSION AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

Meanwhile, BCDA’s Ms. Zosa stressed during the discussion that integrating technologies into transport is the way to a more efficient transportation system in the Philippines.

“Our objective on combining ICT (information and communications technology) on transport systems is to make our lives, our businesses more efficient. So, ICT and transport systems would mean accessibility, connectivity, and transforming our lives, improving the quality of our lives, whether you are a service provider or a customer,” Ms. Zosa explained.

According to Ms. Zosa, BCDA is focused on providing efficient infrastructure to the developments it covers. She shared BCDA’s recent projects regarding these efforts which include an integrated operations center, transit-oriented developments (TODs), and a subway system in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig.

Ms. Zosa added that BCDA’s integrated operations center project is expected to be developed within the year. She added that the “cloud-based transport system” will include e-vehicles and electric-assisted bikes, as well as functions that will provide convenience for riders in using their phones to pay for rides, checking available vehicles, and scheduling for drivers.

BCDA’s TOD project, meanwhile, is expected to launch next year in BGC. Ms. Zosa said that this project will help in enhancing the area’s transportation system so that it will provide more “convenience, accessibility, and connectivity to a livable and more workable BGC.”

As BusinessWorld reported earlier in March, BCDA said in a statement that it signed a technical cooperation agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency for developing TODs in the Bonifacio area.

The said project is said to serve as a prototype for sustainable mixed-use communities with train access, and so it raises the potential of the two railway projects, namely the Metro Manila Subway and the North-South Commuter Railway, crossing the BCDA property in Metro Manila.

As much as it is being recognized as the key in shaping an inclusive and sustainable future, digitalization is also seen to have an immense capability of improving transport systems and infrastructure. But to fully realize such a goal, both private and public sectors should work hand-in-hand.

“Mobility in the digital world has to be a whole-nation approach, with us, other players of the industry, government stakeholders, Grab is always a committed partner to that,” Grab’s Mr. dela Vega said.

Transport players should also better understand the commuters they serve and aim to serve them better.

“It is important to pinpoint what are the outcomes we want for our stakeholders. It is important to look deeply into who you serve to be able to find out what would be really beneficial for them to make sure we can build a thriving ecosystem… and to build a stronger Philippines,” Ms. Tham of Angkas added.

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