Tag Archives: transport

Culture

Awkward Tricycle Rides And The Charming Appeal Of A Peso

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So many questions were running through my mind at that moment. I was playing out different scenarios in my head, wondering how they would turn out. Was the driver going to get aggressive? would he back down if I become aggressive? Should I wait until we get to our destination, or should I bring it up with him now?

We had just arrived back in Puerto Princesa after spending some time in El Nido. We were at what seemed like a secluded bus stop on the outskirts of the city. The bus driver told us it’s best for us to get a tricycle to take us to the hotel from there. We were then approached by a driver who told us what seemed like a reasonable price, we were soon on our way to the hotel. The price hadn’t bothered me at the time because I was thinking we were reasonably far away from the city center.

Within minutes of our ride, I immediately had the thought “he is ripping us off”. I began to recognise the shopping areas and some of the restaurants we were passing. The driver had told us it was expensive because it was a 45-minute ride to the hotel. Once I knew where we were I could tell we were only 10 minutes away from the hotel at most.

Then I began to wonder what I should do, as I didn’t feel right paying what would be a 45-minute tricycle ride fare, after what wasn’t even a 10-minute tricycle ride. I ended up not saying anything until we got to the hotel, I waited for the porter to take all our luggage inside, I then gave the rider the normal price with a 20 peso tip as he had helped with our bags. I then immediately went inside the hotel before he could say anything.

Thinking back, it seems so ridiculous for me to put so much emphasis on a few pesos. What I spend on public transport in Australia eclipses anything I would pay to a tricycle rider in The Philippines. But the context of the situation caused me to lose perspective. 

I usually happily tip drivers if they offer a good service. If they are friendly, take my bags and then talk a bit during the ride I will tip them well. But when you have somebody trying to take that extra money from you, even if its just a small amount it changes the whole dynamic.

That sort of behaviour just does not gel well with me. Basically, it comes down to me feeling like I am reinforcing the behaviour. If I get service like I described above I will pay them what I owe, nothing more nothing less. Whereas if I experience good honest customer service I feel like that’s the kind of behaviour which should be reinforced, so I make sure I compensate them nicely.

Comment your thoughts and feelings on this issue below. I would love to hear how others go about this issue, or just how you think it should be handled.
Culture

Taxi Drivers In The Philippines Surprised Me

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Cebu taxi drivers have just left one of the most positive impressions I have had with Philippine taxi drivers in a very long time.

As someone who spends a lot of time in Manila, I try to avoid using taxis by any means necessary.

I have even gone as far as trying to book accommodation within walking distance to the LRT and MRT, just to minimize the number of times I may have to rely on taxis to travel the city.

I remember long evenings spent on EDSA trying to find a driver who would offer a price below 1000 pesos for a 10-minute ride.

I remember an instance when a driver – with no explanation – pulled over on the side of the highway, got out and opened the trunk. He then went on to tinker in there for a minute or two. He then got back into the car, barely able to hold back the smile on his face and took off driving again with no explanation.

Within seconds I noticed the meter was moving extremely quickly, easily 3 – 4 times the regular rate.

By the end of the trip, a normally 100 peso ride was going to cost me almost 600 pesos. So I let him know I had taken down all his details and was ready to make a report, this was then followed by him almost crying and telling me to pay what I think the ride was worth.

Basically, if I decide to use a taxi I have to accept that I will be dealing with a scenario similar to these. There have been some days where I have travelled trouble free, not having to deal with drivers trying to funnel money out of me. But days like that are outnumbered by days dealing with hustlers.

At least up until I visited Cebu recently.

The Miracle Cebu Experience

The first thing I do on arrival to either Cebu or Manila is avoid the arrivals area. I will leave the plane to get my luggage and then immediately walk to the departure area to look for a taxi that has just dropped off passengers.

-I am so used to being overwhelmed with people offering 700 – 800 peso fares the moment I step out of the arrival area, now I just resorted to avoiding it completely.

The biggest hurdle I now face on arrival to Cebu is having to deal with an upset security guard, they usually aren’t too happy with people trying to find a taxi in the departure areas. I have been doing this every time I arrive in Manila and Cebu so I now have it down to an art.

Instead of being offered a ride to my hotel at a premium price, I now get a ride from the departure area in a regular metered taxi.

This is why Cebu City is now possibly my favourite city.

Next came my day to day travels throughout the city. This really caught me off guard, I was taking taxi after taxi, not once did they ask for a fixed price.

I would simply get into the taxi, they would then turn on the meter and begin the journey.

I don’t know if this was just luck or if there have been tighter laws have been put in place for taxi drivers in Cebu. Either way, it turned the usually daunting task of having to find a taxi driver who would treat you like a normal person into a simple operation which I had to no longer think twice about.

When getting taxis from malls I have noticed signs which stated that the fixed price rides were not allowed, this I think was the source of my pleasant stay in Cebu.

Every taxi ride I got was either from the front of my hotel or from a taxi queue at a mall. This means I was given the details of the driver and it seemed the driver had to follow certain rules if they were going to take passengers from those locations otherwise they would be reported and face disciplinary action.

Whatever has happened to keep the drivers in line with the first world standard of taxi service – it should be held in place.

Although they might not be making as much money through their scams, I feel it would draw a lot more people back towards using their services. I previously found myself resorting to just using Jeepneys or the more convenient Uber, so my recent experience has helped to build my faith again in the Philippines taxi industry.

 

 

Culture

The Jeepney Love Affair

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Upon arrival to The Philippines, you will quickly notice that the primary form of public transport looks a little different to what you are used to. This small bus like vehicle which you will no doubt come across are known as the Jeepney.

Their unique paint scheme and flamboyant accessories would make someone start wondering how these became part of the Philippine culture? What caused Filipinos to begin to modify these vehicles and use them as public transport?

Origins of the Jeepney in the Philippines

The Jeepneys were made from the US military jeeps, left over from the Second World War. The Americans had been using the jeeps during the several years The Philippines had been occupied by the Japanese. After the war, there were tens of thousands of jeeps littered across The Philippines. Once the time came for the Americans to leave, they would either sell or give the jeeps to the Filipinos.

After the Filipinos had attained the jeeps, they stripped them down and then added more seats to increase the number of individuals it was able to accommodate. Due to their widespread use, a need for a roof over the jeepneys became necessary to operate in the harsh weather conditions. The need to provide comfort for the passengers pushed the jeepney owners to make roofs a standard feature on jeepneys.

In addition to these changes, some decorations were added to make it more attractive and appealing to the potential passengers. Ornaments and bright colours were used to decorate the Jeepney in order to attract more customers.

The above changes made to the jeeps to convert them to the Jeepney were preparatory steps to have them in public transport service. There was a need to re-establish a public transport system that would no longer be expensive as the previous public transport system which was in place before it had been destroyed during the Second World War.

Jeepneys become a public transport staple

The rate at which the use of Jeepneys in the public transport sector kept on increasing as time went by. When the government of Philippine realised this, they enacted some regulations to guide the operation of the Jeepney. Those people who were driving Jeepney were now required to have licenses to operate on public roads. Apart from licenses, the drivers were also designated regular routes and established fixed prices for transporting people along these routes.

There is no doubt that a time came when there were no more jeeps to be converted to the Jeepney. To continue supplying the Jeepney, factories were set up to produce Jeepneys from scratch. It is now still possible for a person to get a new Jeepney from these factories. This also ensured a continued use and expansion of the use of Jeepneys.

Lastly, you may be interested in where the term Jeepney actually came from. Well, Jeepney is a combination of two words namely jeep and knee. The word jeep was used because a Jeepney came into existence because of the refurbishment of the jeeps. The knee part results from the crowded seating in which an individual will be forced to sit knee to knee.