The mayor of a Philippine city called Tabontabon was tired of seeing so many 3-wheeled motorcycles acting as taxis in his city (and causing accidents). He wanted to make the streets safer, the passengers (mainly tourists) safer, and do it without having to put a lot of money into it or use up a lot of precious resources.
So he turned to bamboo.
If you don’t know bamboo, it’s like a weed. It grows at a phenomenal rate, grows in all kinds of conditions, and is sturdy, malleable, useful stuff that Asians have used for centuries to build just about everything.
Now they’re making taxis out of them. The mayor commissioned the construction of two taxis, which are now on the road, and it’s likely that more will follow. The idea came from enterprising locals who create makeshift covers for their motorcycles to keep the rain off.
The taxis are 90% bamboo, are powered by biodiesel made from coconut oil, and are extremely decorative.
Source: TOTI
Tags: bamboo, bamboo car, bamboo taxi, electric car, Featured
Related Posts
Researchers at the Kyoto University in Japan have built a car whose body is made entirely of bamboo. The car, which is a 1-seater electric, is called the BamGoo. It weighs in at only 60kg (about 133 pounds) and will [...]
Read More...
The Japanese government and the city of Tokyo, Japan are teaming with Better Place to test the viability of electric taxi cabs in the city. These taxis are slated to hit the roads as early as January and will [...]
Read More...
In a somewhat bold move, Renault-Nissan has announced that they will not continue to pursue hydrogen or hybrid technologies in the future. Research and development programs into both hydrogen and hybrid-electrics has been discontinued and will continue instead with [...]
Read More...
About a year ago, Paris’ Mayor Bertrand Delanoe announced a new electric vehicle renting service for the public. Called Auto’lib, it was supposed to be up and running within a year and was inspired by the successful bike rental [...]
Read More...
Coming this spring, the Zero S all-electric motorcycle will be hitting the streets. Priced at under $10,000 and with a range of up to 60 miles and a top speed of 70mph, it’s a pretty cool machine.
[...]
Read More...
We just got this great tip from our friend Skadamo over at the Electric Motorcycle Forum - several electric motorcycles are currently on display at the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) show in Switzerland. This exhibition is being held [...]
Read More...
