The Pasig River Dream: Autonomous Ferries Instead of Another Expressway

A Pasig River Expressway is nice, but let's face it: Most of those who stand to benefit from this elevated megastructure are car owners, not everyday commuters or active transport users.

One of the ferries gliding across the Pasig River. Picture taken in February 2020.

PHOTO BY Mark Jesalva

If we really want traffic to be addressed, the government is going to have to come up with more inclusive solutions than building one road after another. The Pasig River Ferry system was on its way back up before the pandemic hit, but perhaps continuing to beef it up could complement the upcoming expressway? San Miguel Corporation, the entity behind the upcoming expressway that will run across the "entirety" of Metro Manila's main water channel, has promised that cleaning up the river is part and parcel of the project—so including the ferry system doesn't seem too much of a stretch.

We're bringing this up because we recently stumbled upon a stunning new ferry concept by the Kiel University in Germany called the Clean Autonomous Public Transport Network. That's CAPTN, for short. Clever, no? Well, it gets better. Not only are these vessels stunning to look at, but they're also autonomous and run on electricity as well. 

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The concepts were developed by students from the Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design for the Kiel Fjord in Germany. They had three main goals in mind: To secure the transport future of their community, to address the city's growing urban mobility needs, and to "make it easier to avoid the car." And while it may be meant for a different body of water in a different country, who says we can't dream big for transport in Metro Manila? 

Those goals sound like they would apply to Metro Manila as well. That last bit is especially important when you take into account the rate at which Filipinos have been buying cars lately and the amount of hours per day we spend stuck inside one. 

Pasig River Light, the first lighthouse in the Philippines, 1902.

PHOTO University of Michigan Special Collections Library via Wikimedia Commons

Pasig River has historically been a source of livelihood and a main means of transportation. There have been many efforts to restore Metro Manila's main aquatic artery throughout the years but who knows what an expressway might do? Besides, mobility is about movement, not just cars. 

This story originally appeared on Topgear.com.ph. Minor edits have been made by the SPOT.ph editors.

Source: Spot PH