COMET e-Jeepney

The COMET, or Community Optimized Managed Electric Transport, is an electric transport service operated by Global Electric Transport (GET) Philippines. They started operations in 2014 with two units plying the SM City North Ave. to LRT-Katipunan route. Starting 2015, new routes were also added.

In September 2015, upgraded batteries were introduced that doubled the distance before recharging from 25 kilometers to 50 kilometers. Aside from their Quezon City route, they also operate a shuttle service in Clark International Airport.

COMET uses a tap card system (called a GET Pass) that you can reload at the COMET terminal booth. Starting March 2016, single journey payments were also made available for those who didn't want to use a GET Pass. Please refer to the infographic below for more details:

Operating schedule is Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm (except holidays).

The COMET e-jeepneys also have GPS, CCTV, flatscreen TV (for advertisements) and WiFi connection so passengers can enjoy a measure of both convenience and security during their trips.

Sources: CNN Philippines, GET Philippines Facebook page, GMA News

Lancaster New City Shuttle Service

Property Company of Friends, Inc., i.e. Pro-Friends, is a real estate developer that started in 1999. The bulk of their development projects are located in Cavite, particularly the Lancaster New City project.

Like other real estate developers such as Megaworld and Ayala Land, Pro-Friends wants to make their project developments accessible for people who regularly commute to and from Metro Manila. This only makes sense as accessibility will be a selling point for those who want the lowered costs of living outside of Metro Manila but still need to work in the metropolis.

Given the above, Pro-Friends has made shuttle bus services available to take commuters to and from Lancaster New City. The information below is taken directly from the Lancaster New City website and also gives helpful instructions on how to get to the shuttle terminals depending on where you're coming from:
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Available 24/7 Means of Tansportation:
Bus, Jeepney, UV Transport, Shuttle Service

ACCESS 1: From Pasay, Manila
From Coastal mall Terminal, Take a bus with LANCASTER NEW CITY signboard that will pass thru CAVITEX route. Get off at LANCASTER NEW CITY transport terminal. (Besides Wilcon Depot) Estimated fare from Pasay is Php 25.00

ACCESS 2: From Cubao, Starmall Edsa, or Makati
Take a bus to BACLARAN. Ride on a bus to LANCASTER NEW CITY passing thru CAVITEX (LANCASTER NEW CITY, Naic, Tanza Signage). Get off at LANCASTER NEW CITY transport terminal. Estimated fare from Baclaran is Php 25.00.

ACCESS 3: From Alabang, Muntinlupa
From Alabang, ride a jeepney to Zapote, Las Pinas. Transfer to a mini bus or jeepney going to LANCASTER NEW CITY passing through Tirona Highway. Get off at LANCASTER NEW CITY. Estimated fare from Alabang is Php 30.00.

ACCESS 4: From Tagaytay, Dasmarinas and Imus Cavite
From Tagaytay, ride a bus going to Manila. Get off at Imus Transport Terminal. Take a jeepney going to Bucandala. Get off at Bucandala. A shuttle from LANCASTER NEW CITY will take you from there. Estimated fare from Imus Transport Terminal is Php 20.00.
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Source: Lancaster New City

One final note, these routes typically experience heavy traffic during rush hour so plan your trip accordingly.

UberPOOL: A More Affordable Uber

Last June 15, Uber Philippines soft launched UberPOOL, a car pool service taken a notch higher. It follows the same basic model as the main Uber service except that you also get to share the ride with passengers headed in the same general direction as you are in exchange for a cheaper fare than the normal Uber rate (around P50 cheaper). The concept is similar to Wunder, a carpooling app that is popular in Europe and recently entered into the Philippine market.

The down side of UberPOOL is that travel time to your destination is longer because of the pick up/drop off detours for the other passengers you're sharing the ride with. Coupled with Metro Manila's perennial traffic and the cheaper fare might not be worth the added travel time. Sometimes you may get lucky if there are no other passengers along the route you're taking, so it will be like getting the regular Uber service at a discounted rate. This will be a hit or miss thing, though.

The good news is that Uber is working towards tweaking the service to gain the most benefit for passengers and drivers alike. Only time will tell if this will take, but in the meantime the service looks promising.

Source: Rappler

Makati City E-Jeepney (Makati Green Route)

Source: GMA News

The Makati City E-Jeepney is a free transport service that uses a fleet of electric vehicles to serve limited routes within Makati City. The service was officially launched in November 2009 as the Makati Green Route under the Climate Friendly Cities (CFC) program of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC), which is a Greenpeace Southeast Asia initiative.

The e-jeepneys are operated by PhUV (Philippine Utility Vehicle) Incorporated, an umbrella organization that has pioneered the use of electric vehicles for public transport in the Philippines.

Each vehicle can comfortably sit 14 passengers and currently serves two routes: the Legaspi Village route and Salcedo Village route. The main terminal is at the Landmark Department Store (near the Makati Ave. entrance) and there are 13 designated stops within each loop. There is only a 10-second dwell time, however, so you need to disembark or get on the vehicle quickly.

The trip schedules are as follows:

7am to 9am
11am to 1pm
4pm to 6:30pm

Service is supposed to be from Mondays to Fridays but just recently I do remember seeing an e-jeepney waiting in front of the Landmark terminal on a Saturday.

One other thing to note is that there are not that many vehicles, so if you miss your ride you may end up waiting for quite some time for the next one. I've tried to use this service a few times but gave up on waiting since I didn't know when the next vehicle would arrive. Still, it's a good thing to have this option available in case you need it.

Here are the route maps:

Legaspi Village Route

Salcedo Village Route

Sources: EJeepney website, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, GMA News