Transportation

Manila Jeepney art

















To go short distances, you ride in the side car attached to a 125cc motorcycle. Longer distances, you take a Jeepney, which is a Mercedes truck that looks like a long, long old school jeep. There is a bench along each side of the bed, and there is a roof to keep the worst of the rain off. The Jeepneys run on set routes and drop you at a bus terminal, where you catch a bus to one of the big malls or other destinations. Some are ancient, some are airconditioned and show movies. People are cheaper than machines, so there is a "conductor" who markets at the bus stops and collects the fare. Keep your ticket! If they ask to see it and you don't have it, you must pay again. If you have packages to take home from the mall, you catch a stretched SUV along with about 10 other people. They run routes similar to Jeepneys, but the terminals are more convenient at the malls. If you are feeling prosperous, you can take a taxi, door to door. Sometimes, it is just not practical to do the commuting dance between different modes of transport, and especially when it is raining, a taxi is a lot more comfortable. If you don't have local friends who know the routes, a taxi will be the only practical way to go.

Motorcycle taxis

Typical motorcycle taxi.  They look a little different in different parts of town but in general, they are variations on this theme.

Cargo sidecar - This is how things get delivered to small shops.  Imagine every square cm of the deck packed with 2.5m tall stacks of crates full of soda bottles.  Now imagine that load doing 60kph down a one lane alley.

No emissions testing in Manila, and you can see the result.

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