MPTC showcases innovations at MIAS

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) has showcased two of its latest innovation projects at the ongoing Manila International Auto Show (MIAS).

For its first participation in MIAS, MPTC unit exhibited its all-in-one travel app MPT DriveHub and its foray in the electric vehicle (EV) industry.

Launched last February, MPT DriveHub integrates three key travel functions in one: RFID transactions, trip planning, and emergency roadside assistance. It is now available at the Apple App Store and Google Play for free.

Among the app’s core features are the Easytrip RFID reload and account balance, checking of toll service facilities along the MPTC expressways, and a toll fee calculator.

It also features a traffic update function that can help motorists anticipate MPTC expressway traffic conditions ahead.

Whole day roadside emergency services are also just a tap away with the MPT DriveHub’s call button.

“DriveHub is designed to make access and mobility efficient and easy for our customers. Aside from getting to their destination, we want them to enjoy the journey as well,” MPT Mobility president and general manager Raul Ignacio said.

Apart from providing a digital touchpoint for expressway users, MPT Mobility is championing the development and integration of electric vehicle ecosystems, complete with fleet terminals and EV charging stations within MPTC’s tollways.

“We envision the creation of business viable network of EV ecosystems that can increase the travel boundaries of electric vehicles coming from Metro Manila. This step alone can increase the adoption of electric vehicle use, and inevitably, amplify its benefits of reducing the country’s carbon footprint and providing an alternative cost option for motorists from current volatile fuel prices,” MPT Mobility business development vice Presidenp Mark De Leon said.

MPT South’s e-patrol vehicle is among the first fully electronic SUVs in the country.

Powered by a permanent magnet synchronous motor, the EV pickup truck can run at 400 kilometers in a single 45-minute charging.

The company has put up an e-charging station at its headquarters’ MPT South Hub in Imus, Cavite.

“The move to transition to EVs is in alignment with the company’s objective of helping decarbonize the transport sector, and turn one of its expressways, particularly the 45-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) into a green highway,” MPTC chief finance officer and senior executive sponsor for sustainability Christopher Lizo said.

CALAX had already started integrating energy-efficient and resource-saving technologies while maintaining the high standard of road safety features along the expressway.

Existing toll plazas of the operational sections of CALAX were equipped with rooftop solar panels that power its own operations.

Roadway lighting systems use LED fixtures for improved energy efficiency.

MPT South’s headquarters, meanwhile, has also been awarded recently with a LEED gold certification by the US Green Building Council.

“These sustainable practices are also being done across the MPTC group; implementing infrastructure projects with the least disruption to the communities and the environment,” Lizo said.