LOCATORS
SCAN ME!
Saving the Earth one ride at a time By Vanessa Abellon
n 2017, Anna Moncupa had just come I back to the Philippines after finishing her post graduate studies abroad, when
the BGC, told us that a bike-share program has been in their pipeline since 2015. From then on, they have studied and met with an idea popped into her head. Back when several different bike-share operators, but she was living in Los Angeles, California, nothing much came of these meetings. It she made the most out of using personal wasn’t until Anna presented her team’s mobility devices (PMD) to make her way project proposal, when the plans started across the city. She figured: why not bring materializing. the concept home? The BGC, even during its planning stage, After formulating her plan, she and her has always been envisioned as a smart city. team started negotiating with various They have been one of the pioneers and providers, who could help them deploy an strongest advocates of traveling by foot or app-based, ride-sharing program. With due by riding a bicycle, a pertinent campaign diligence, they prepared the estimates and for a company that constantly aims for waited for the right time to launch. sustainability and environment-friendliness Fast forward to the year 2020, when the in its projects. Bonifacio Global City (BGC), in Taguig Anna says, “It was truly a partnership City— where Anna lives—began building with BGC, from incubation to more infrastructure that allowed for safe implementation. That’s the secret sauce cycling and personal transport inside the for me: having a partner that really works complex. “It was then, I knew, the time had alongside you, with the same values come for the Philippines to have such a and intentions. We wanted the same facility,” Anna recalls. things and had the same goal to bring inclusive mobility and simple solutions to ‘BGCitizens.’ We wanted to offer the best Partners for the environment The facility is called Moovr PH, the first possible ride-share program without the PMD-sharing application in the Philippines, unnecessary hullabaloo.” offering bikes and e-scooters for rent. Anna is the company’s founder and general Moovr PH manager. While Moovr PH is not the first bikeThe Fort Bonifacio Development sharing program in the country, it is the Corporation (FBDC), the main developer of first mobile app that offers both bikes and 14 Collective / Issue 12
