THE MOBILITY Expo 2015 talk featured speakers who encouraged Ateneans to practice sustainable mobility through eco-friendly driving, carpooling and innovation.
The talk, organized by the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS), was held on February 11 at the Faber Hall Function Room.
The Mobility Expo 2015 is an exhibition of innovations that promote sustainable mobility and transportation.
The speakers were University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ, Honda Cars Philippines Corporate Planning Group Head Maricel Quilao and Tripda Philippines Country Manager Erick Coser.
According to DSWS Chairperson Joselito Santos, the mobility talk aimed to raise awareness among students and promote practices of sustainable mobility.
Santos mentioned the large volume of vehicles that enter and exit the Ateneo. “Just knowing that you’re part of the problem would be a great help in fighting for this advocacy,” he said.
DSWS is a student-run office of the Ateneo that handles student services, including lost and found items, loans, promotions monitoring, documentation, lockers and carpooling.
Practices
Villarin cited Ateneo’s efforts toward sustainable mobility, which include the one-way traffic scheme, red brick sidewalk design, electric jeepneys and parking regulation.
He explained that the Ateneo’s sustainable mobility efforts can serve as a model for external institution, citing a local church’s adaption of the university’s sidewalk design.
“If we find a solution for campus sustainability and it can be done, [external institutions] can plagiarize all they want. Okay lang sa akin (It’s alright with me),” Villarin said.
Quilao discussed Honda’s 1’M Blue campaign, which promotes ecologically safe driving practices in the Philippines. Honda is a Japanese automobile manufacturer.
She explained that ecologically safe driving should be practiced because of the negative effects of greenhouse gas emissions on public health, natural disasters and the environment.
She also cited that the Philippines ranked fifth in non-profit organization Germanwatch’s 2015 Global Climate Change Risk Index.
“Climate change is indeed a business for us. This is important to us,” Quilao added.
She encouraged eco-safe driving practices, such as driving smoothly, monitoring fuel consumption and maintaining proper tire pressure.
Coser promoted Tripda, an online carpooling platform that links people without transportation with people who can provide transportation from the same area.
He explained that carpool maximizes resources and lessens congestion in public transport.
“I think there’s a huge capacity out there that’s not being used nowadays in the form of people driving alone,” Coser added.
He also explained key features of the platform, namely, suggestions on the price to charge for carpooling and ratings on users’ driving.
According to Santos, DSWS and Tripda are currently in negotiation for an official carpool partnership.
Innovations
In light of the Mobility Expo, Villarin called on Ateneans to be creative and innovative in developing new solutions for sustainable mobility.
“That’s what you’re being trained for, to be game changers, to change the way people think [on sustainable mobility],” he said.
Quilao advocated the exploration of alternatives to fossil fuels, such as biofuel, natural gas and hydrogen.
She added that Honda’s current dream is for majority of their vehicles to use hydrogen as fuel.
“Right now, we’re stuck with the traditional fossil fuels, but want to advance cleaner energy and technologies,” Quilao added.
Moreover, Coser encouraged the development of social enterprises that promote sustainable mobility, suggesting incentive-based recycling and electric-powered cars.
“You can make a change in the world through a business,” Coser said.
