h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Philippine Modes of Public Transport - A734708
Author: recrash - U189615

Philippine Modes of Public Transport

The streets of Metro Manila are alive. Day and night, people and cargo move along the asphalt arteries and capillaries. Whether it's for the day's dusty business or for the glittering nightlife that is the stuff of stories, knowing the highways and back roads are necessary if you want to live in and experience the city. And you can't know the roads of Manila without getting acquainted with the vehicles.

While you won't see rickshaws or oxcarts (actually, you will see oxcarts) there are a variety of craft unique to Filipino streets, with their own set of rules and systems. They are listed here.

From the lowest fares:
Tricycles, Pedicabs, Jeepneys, Tamaraw FXs, Kalesas, and Taxicabs

Tricycles
Motorcycles with distinctive sidecars. They can seat two in the sidecar and one other riding shotgun with the driver. Especially skilled at maneuvering in rutted and congested back roads, the starting fare is eight pesos but can be split among several passengers going in the same direction.

Pedicabs
Pedicabs are bicycles with sidecars. Man-powered vehicles have become rare in Manila, though underpowered automobiles will suddenly become man-powered when they stall on steep mountain roads. Pedicabs are used mainly for soft drink deliveries and park recreation (you rent, you pedal.) Safety is questionable. Do not speed. The author once had one turn turtle on him and ended up caged under the sidecar like some zoo attraction.

Jeepneys
Jeepneys are the lauded kings of the road in the Philippines. You may find them everywhere in Filipino cities, towns, and mountain roads. Adapted from army jeeps at the end of the Second World War, they sit higher and are longer due to the passenger area. Jeepneys haul the majority of Manila's commuters.
You can't miss them. They are lavishly decorated, with pewter stallions on the car hood, streamers and flags on the antennae, covered in imaginative if unskilled artwork, every unpainted surface gleaming chrome. The interior and windshield is covered with so many stickers, ornaments, and God Bless Our Ride yarnwork it's hard to look out, giving the driver a view similar to that from armored car slits. They don't stop at visual decoration. Special horn sounds range from gay manic laughter to wolf whistles.
Jeeps can hold eighteen to twenty people, with two in front with the driver and the rest seated in benches that face each other. Fully loaded this way, up to four more people can still ride by clinging to the bars at the back door, with their rear ends at the mercy of trailing vehicles.
The jeep designers (unh-huh) seem to have chosen utility over comfort. And safety. There are no seat belts on board. Passengers must steady themselves with the overhead running bars or just cling onto any piece of metalwork. There are virtually no accommodations for inclement weather. At best, a plastic tarp over the running side windows, which flap in the wind and make a racket if not fastened down. Even in the best weather, it is not exactly comfortable, packed in with eighteen other people elbow-to-elbow and nose-to nose in the rear passenger area.
Standard Jeep fare is four pesos, which doesn't seem much but manages to support the driver and auxiliary positions, such as hawkers, who guide boarders to their rides, and assistants, who sit in front, collect and make change for the fares that are passed over from the back.
Jeeps run regular routes, covering the city in interlocking and redundant networks. The scope of their route is told by the names painted down the sides, which list the general area and narrows down to particular stops, using movie theaters, drugstores, and housing projects as landmarks. This system is often confusing, even for natives. If you're not sure where it's going, don't hesitate to ask, or you'll be calling home with cows lowing in the background.

While there are regular jeep and tricycle stations at the extreme ends of their routes, you can hail them anywhere; regular stops do not apply. This goes the same for crossing anytime, anywhere. Just don't get caught.

Tamaraw FXs
Tamaraw FXs are the link between cabs and jeeps. Vans with seating space in front, behind, and in two benches in back, they are more plush than jeeps and air-conditioned. They run similar routes as jeeps; fare runs from ten to twenty pesos.
There are hazards. An entire party of noisy transvestites may board the FX with you and you'll spend the entire trip frozen and fearing for your sex.

Kalesas
Kalesas, horse-drawn carriages, used to be the only form of transport in Manila, but are now unknown in most parts except in older sections, like Chinatown. Not a swift ride, it is no competition to motorized cars and buses, which are faster and more durable in the event of a crash.
They're around mostly for ambience, for the feel and the perspective they give. People with an old-fashioned bent still prefer them and fare runs from thirty pesos up.
One hazard specific to the horse-drawn carriage is when the horse's tail whisks the waste bag. It literally flies.

Taxicabs
Taxis are the most comfortable, private, and expensive mode of public transport in the Philippines. They are generally indistinguishable from taxis in the U.S, except that like most Filipino vehicles, they're decorated with all sorts of trinkets, with rosaries and religious leaflets hanging from the rear view mirror, bobbing-headed dogs, king's crown air fresheners, and multiple religious icons. Fare is from forty up, and there's no shortage of them anywhere in town. One other thing about Filipino cabs: None of the drivers know to use the overhead lights, and are often lit when occupied and unlit when unoccupied. When hailing them, just hope for the best.

And those are the vehicles you will find in the Philippines. Colorful, loud, and downright cantankerous, they will still get you where you need to go with a modicum of comfort and safety.

Hi,

I noticed some U.S. spelling (colorful). And if you want to learn how to use GuideML (for headings, sub-headings, paragraphs, etc.) that would help.

Otherwise - mabuti!.

Magandang gabi,
Awu.

You don't have to post the whole entry into the PR thread, BTW.

The entry is great, it covers all it has to cover and I specially liked the brief passages explaining the typical Philipino-chaos. And the jeepney ornamental paintings: I had forgotten the stallions, I usually remember this one jeepney at the jeepney factory (you could add that, it's worth a visit), which had a F-16 Fighting Falcon motif... BTW, you don't have to concentrate on Manila, in other cities/islands it's the same, you don't even notice there are less cars/people/mules on the streets. It's so chaotic you feel you're right somewhere in Metro Manila.

Cheers,

HELL

i've uploaded the latest changes... i definitely need to learn guide ml.

Or maybe retitling the entry to: Public Transport in Manila, Philippines. Or something in these lines.

The first paragraph, and some parts in the entry concentrate on Manila.

HELL