MANILA: Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF), a non-profit entity founded by Toyota Motor Corporation and Deloitte Future of Mobility Solution Center, has completed the trial run of its Sustainable Mobility Advancing Real Transformation (SMART) program. 

The aforementioned SMART program’s trial run was enacted in Ubud, Indonesia. At the locale, TFM sought to address its mobility issues in a sustainable manner by deploying five xEV battery electric vehicles (BEV) and five xEV hybrid electric vehicles as shuttles. 

The non-profit likewise installed nine digital display monitors strategically positioned on high-traffic bus stops at Ubud’s Trans Metro Dewata Route. The latter allowed commuters to see the schedules of arriving and departing buses in real-time. 

As per TMF, the implementation of SMART is quite thorough, as the organization also supplied supporting infrastructure (charging ports) for the program’s BEV models. More ridership for the program was also ensured by the establishment of more shuttle stops, while business stability for the program was achieved thanks to cooperative action with local businesses. 

The organization also shared that it has already considered customer needs, specifically the initial cost of the EV shuttles, the program’s emission reduction potential, and local conditions such as traffic. 

With the reported success of the SMART pilot run, TMF has already handed over its related assets and business models to the Bali Provincial Goverment, Gianyar Regency Government, and Kerthi Bali Santhi.

As TMP Executive Program Director Pras Ganesh shared, the SMART@Ubud program managed to provide a full ecosystem with the necessary tools to deliver mobility for all. Furthermore, the organization is looking forward to replicating the project in other cities.

Hopefully, the TMF can establish a similar program in various areas of the Philippines in the near future. However, the group has yet to declare whether the project will be extended to other countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 

Previously, the TMF was involved in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines back in 2020. At the time, the group provided ten connected and sanitized shuttles to the Philippine General Hospital. 

Photos from Toyota Mobility Foundation

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