Aboitiz, GET Philippines launch new bus routes in Cebu

MANILA, Philippines — The Aboitiz Group and its partner GET Philippines have launched new bus routes in major thoroughfares in Cebu.

The routes will be served by a fleet of low-emission, air-conditioned, and pollution-free COMET Buses developed by electric vehicle manufacturer GET Philippines called GET Cebu.

This is in line with the continuous transformation of the Mactan Economic Zone 2 (MEZ2) Estate of Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC).

The partnership covers four routes, namely the Cebu North Route (SM City Consolacion-Cebu IT Park), Cebu South Route (Minglanilla-Cebu IT Park), Cebu Mactan Route (Gaisano Grand Mall-Cebu IT Park, with a pick-up and drop-off point at The Outlets at Pubelo Verde in MEZ2 Estate), and Cebu City Route (Shopwise Mambaling-Cebu IT Park).

AIC Economic Estates head Rafael Fernandez de Mesa said the push for a sustainable and eco-friendly transportation network is key to future-proof the estate and laying the foundation for next-generation smart cities.

“We want to create resilient spaces where we can also ensure the overall health and wellness of our community and the environment. Strategic land use, a good, flexible development plan, and a transport network that addresses traffic and congestion, with minimal environmental impact, essentially prepare us for the future needs of the communities we serve,” he said.

GET Philippines president Freddie Tinga said the development of the COMET Buses addresses the need for safe and sustainable transport, with a positive impact to the environment.

“We’re seeing two things that are happening in the world today that could be ideal if we could bring them to the Philippines. One is the rise of the electric vehicles to replace internal combustion engines, and the other is the application as a transport solution. Here, we felt that there was the opportunity to put those two things together and create a holistic transport solution for developing markets,” Tinga said.

Philinsure and Cebu Leads Foundation president Gordon Alan Joseph said the vision for GET Cebu is anchored on sustainability as the new normal.

“If there’s anything that the pandemic taught us, plus the (natural) disasters we’ve had before…We cannot keep doing what we are doing to the environment. We cannot let our commuters sit in diesel smoke from poorly designed and poor-quality vehicles,” he said.

AIC’s Economic Estates business unit operates and develops industrial estates with complementary commercial, institutional, and residential components.

Spanning over 1,000 hectares, it includes the 794-hectare LIMA Estate in Lipa-Malvar, Batangas, the 63-hectare Mactan Economic Zone 2 Estate and the 540- hectare West Cebu Estate in Cebu, which is supported by a complete ecosystem of infrastructure facilities and services run by Aboitiz affiliates Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Aboitiz Power, and Aboitiz Construction.