Table of Contents
Introduction
My first time using the Moovr PH e-scooters was when I visited BGC at midnight on a Saturday. I wanted to kill time that wasn’t just staying at home. And going out on a weekend at night in the Metro, you only have a few options that aren’t drinking. After hanging out at Starbucks, me and my friend figured we should try out the e-scooters that were parked outside the coffee shop. It was the perfect time, there were barely any other vehicles in the road and you get the wide expansive BGC roads mostly to yourself.
How is the app experience?
The Moovr app felt a bit buggy and the whole starting a renting session can be error prone from my experience. I had to register twice because I wasn’t receiving my One Time Passcodes (OTPs) when trying to activate my account. You have to provide your phone number and email address. The app itself showed a map where bikes and charged e-scooters were available. On the Moovr PH parking spot, there were a lot more bikes and scooters that were parked than the map suggested but I figured they were just out of battery. The app is far from perfect but it was enough to get me on the scooter.
How much does renting e-scooters and bikes cost?
Before you could rent the bike or e-scooter, you had to top up your account first, this was a minimum P200 pesos via card or GCash. Bikes costs P25 every 15 minutes and e-scooters costs P30 every 10 minutes. These prices are as of October 2023. They don’t charge per minute, so the moment you go over each 15 minute or 10 minute interval, you will already pay the additional P25 or P30 so be aware of this and keep track of the time. It’s a bit egregious to charge this way since it’s not that hard to charge per minute if they wanted to.
UPDATE: Prices have increased since they introduced new e-bikes and e-scooters. E-bikes are available for P35 per 10 minutes. E-scooters are now P45 per 10 minutes.
Can you use Moovr PH bikes or e-scooters to travel between Makati and BGC?
You can’t cross between BGC and the Makati CBD, they’re separate “zones” in the app. They made it abundantly clear in the app when I was using the bike in Makati that “going to BGC” was not an option, not that you would want to cross EDSA on a bike anyway. The app also shows the parking spots and the general area you are allowed to travel. The bike and e-scooter will lock itself and beep to alert you when you try to go outside of zone boundaries.
How safe is it?
They don’t provide a helmet for your use unfortunately, only that you should bring your own. Nobody will force you to wear a helmet and the speed on the e-scooters are limited to 25km/h which is still enough to injure yourself if you’re not careful. Please wear a helmet and/or drive slower if you don’t. Be mindful of other people too especially if you’re opting to use the sidewalks for the scooters.
Is it worth it?
The price is a bit costly when compared to your normal commute options. However, if you want to explore the two CBDs, these bikes and scooters are the way to go. Especially during the weekend when certain roads in BGC and Ayala Triangle are closed. For a larger group, the BGC bus or jeeps are probably better. I can definitely recommend this when you’re in a rush but only if your eventual stop has a Moovr PH parking spot.
Zoomer PH 