Cebu prepares for massive e-bus rollout plans

CEBU, Philippines — As the country’s energy crisis persists, the Cebu Provincial Government is preparing to launch electric buses (e-buses) across the province as revealed in their Facebook page on Tuesday morning, April 21, 2026.

Cebu Governor Pam Baricuatro, together with Cebu Provincial Administrator Atty. Ace Durano, Executive Assistant V assigned to Cebu Provincial Planning and Development Elizar Sabinay Jr., and Cebu Provincial School Board focal person Christopher Baricuatro, recently met with representatives of Global Electric Transport (GET) Philippines. 

GET Philippines was represented by its President Freddie Tinga and Head of Operations Frankie Endriga.

The meeting focused on coordinating efforts to address the ongoing energy crisis while modernizing Cebu’s transportation and mobility systems.

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Besides mitigating transportation challenges brought by the current energy crisis, the proposed e-bus system could also improve connectivity to island destinations such as the Camotes Islands and Bantayan Island, with officials highlighting its potential to boost tourism in said areas.

Current Electric Public Utility Vehicles in Cebu

At present, Cebuanos have several choices in electric public utility vehicles (e-PUVs):

• Solar-powered electric jeepneys by Star 8 Cebu (operated by the United Drivers-Operators Transport Cooperative Transport Service Inc.), with route loops that connect the Mactan Island (Lapu-Lapu City and the Municipality of Cordova) to Cebu City.
• Green and Smart Mobility’s ride-hailing electric taxi service that covers Metro Cebu and adjacent towns.
• Electronic tricycles, popularly known as e-bikes, which are slowly replacing traditional tricycles and man-powered ‘traysikad’ (amalgamation of tricycle and the local word “sikad” which means kick).

With the province planning to add e-buses to the fleet of e-PUVs, Cebu is currently identifying priority routes based on daily commuter movement within and between cities and municipalities.

Additionally, the talks between the Cebu Provincial Government and GET Philippines also covered the development of a financing and business model designed to be feasible and cooperative-friendly. 

With that, Cebu is targeting implementation of the electric bus rollout before September this year.

LGUs Embrace E-PUVs

As the country’s ongoing energy crisis is far from over, Cebu is just one of the many local government units turning to e-PUVs to solve commuter problems.

In Quezon City, electric “jumbo jeeps” began offering free rides to commuters on Monday, April 20, as part of a week-long test run.

Meanwhile, Pasig City received five new electric minibuses in mid-March. These units are now being used by Pasig Transport, under the city’s Transport Development and Management Office, for its free rides program.

As for Cebu, the Provincial Planning and Development Office is set to prepare technical studies for their plans to roll out e-buses. 

Furthermore, they also plan to write a letter of intent to the Department of Transportation and the Department of Trade and Industry by the end of the week.

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