Carmageddon: can electric jeepneys ease Manila's traffic crisis?

The capital of the Philippines has some of the worst traffic in the world, costing the metro area an estimated 45m a day. While some pin their hopes on new road projects, others think e-jeepneys could be part of the solution

During rush hour in Manila, it would be quicker to walk the 6.5km from Renee Karunungan's family home to her office. Today we use public transport, and it takes almost two hours. We use a jeepney (a cross between a jeep and a van), a bus, then two more jeepneys and a motorised tricycle. The city's 2.2 million vehicles frequently grind to a standstill, and it is not unusual for commuters to be stuck for for three to four hours. When torrential rains flood the city, it can be much worse.

As the bus pulls onto EDSA, Manila's notorious main thoroughfare, the honking is almost constant, drivers ignore the road markings and pedestrians frequently walk in the road - pavements are often absent or very narrow. This is the city's most dangerous street, responsible for more traffic casualties than any other. In the last two decades 57,000 pedestrians have been hit in Metro Manila; 3.2% were fatalities.