New Clark City — An energy-efficient and smart public transportation system will make its trial run within the New Clark City, Clark Freeport Zone and the Clark Civil Aviation Complex as part of the government's thrust of having cleaner, greener and sustainable cities.

The new public transportation system is cited in a memorandum of agreement, or MoA, signed by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, Japan-based Zenmov Inc. and Philippine-based MC Metro Transport Operation Inc.

According to the MoA, the public transportation system demo will be a two-year project called the Primary Rapid Transit that will run in select routes in the aforementioned areas using the Smart Mobility Operation Cloud, or SMOC.

The SMOC application will enable Japan-based information technology solutions provider Zenmov to measure and verify the effectiveness of the public transport service system, with an aim to maximize operational availability while keeping the number of vehicles at a minimum by managing a lean dispatching system based on travel demand data.

Smart mobility

"Smart mobility plays an important role in our commitment to transforming our developments into green, sustainable, and inclusive cities. Learning from global experts in smart city development, like our partners from Japan, we can integrate smart and innovative technologies in our developments, like those of Zenmov, which in the long run will improve the quality of life of the people residing and working in BCDA developments," BCDA president and chief executive officer Joshua Bingcang said.

This MoA signing comes on the heels of the memorandum of understanding signed between BCDA and Japan's national research and development agency, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, on 30 January for a demonstration project on smart mobility technologies to be implemented in New Clark City and its environs.