The University of the Philippines Diliman, through its National Engineering Center (NEC), National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS) and the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s Vehicle Research and Testing Laboratory (VRTL), is conducting a comparative study on jeepneys. Three jeepneys will be the subject of road and laboratory tests including one conventional (diesel), one LPG, and an electric jeepney. The study is supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) through its Energy Utilization and Management Bureau (EUMB).

The following photos show the LPG jeepney provided by Pasang Masda that will be used for the study. Road tests will simulate actual operation along an actual jeepney route. The DOE secured permits from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for the deployment of the 3 jeepneys for the UP-North EDSA (SM) route. A similar permit was also secured from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for the jeepneys to be exempt from the number coding scheme.

LPG jeepney unit used in the study

The LPG jeepney provided by Pasang Masda was assembled by David Motors, the pioneer of the LPG jeepney, and is owned by the jeepney group’s leader himself, Ka Obet Martin.

NCTS and David Motors staff work on the LPG jeepney’s engine in preparation for road tests. All jeepneys must be in tip-top condition prior to the tests in order for the comparisons to be objective.

A look at the LPG jeepney engine

The jeepney’s engine is supposedly not a converted one from a gasoline engine but is said to be an original Hyundai LPG engine.

The LPG engine needed some maintenance work as it was apparently not well-maintained according to David Motors’ staff.

Fuel indicator for the LPG jeepney

It turned out that it wasn’t only the engine that needed some attention. David Motors staff had to check everything that may affect the performance of this jeepney unit.

9The brakes on this unit seemed to be defective; something that will affect the performance in both road and lab tests to be conducted.

As of this writing, the road and lab tests have not been conducted for the LPG jeepney due to the many issues about the unit provided by Pasang Masda. Apparently, the group was not doing its part in the study and it was as if they were passing on the costs of fixing the unit they provided to the study team. We hope it was not a conscious effort on their part, which if it did meant they were dealing with us in bad faith – not a good thing if they wanted to be a partner in this research collaboration.

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