City Transportation

Moving about Philippines city streets can be exciting but sometimes frustrating. There are exotic rides to take you around in the inner cities of all the regions. A foreign tourist should not the leave the country without experiencing these rides. There are jeepneys for short to long-distance travel from town to town and to cities. Jeepneys follow the congested urban routes with traffic moving at a snail’s pace and the more free roads that link cities to outlying towns and other cities. Buses, on the other hand, are almost as cheap a means of transportation that also cover the routes that jeepneys do.

Jeepney ride at Asiatown IT Park, Lahug Cebu City

There are places in the country that have very narrow roads that regular means of transport cannot access. This is when alternative forms of transportation come in. Alternative rides like the habal-habal driven by locals who go to places that jeepneys and buses don’t. The ancient calesa is now rarely seen on city streets, basically only used as tourist attractions. There are motorcycles with side cars, called tricycles, this mode of transport moves passengers in and out of the narrow streets of the cities and towns. Another alternative ride are pedicabs or bigger old-style bicycles with side cars, either man-powered or machine-powered, one of the more common sources of income of many local residents in cities and towns. Fare on this type of transport differs depending on the distances they cover and how many passengers the pedicab carries.  Often called the “king of Philippine roads,” the Philippine jeepney, is considered a symbol of Filipino ingenuity and creativeness – a source of national pride. After the Second World War, the jeeps used by the United States Army were either thrown into the sea or given away to locals. Filipinos restructured the body of the Army jeep, lengthened the body to carry more passengers and got licenses from the government transport agency for commercial transportation use. Ever since the jeepney came into being, this type of vehicle has become a ubiquitous sight all over the Philippines, with variations that no longer resemble the original US Army all-terrain vehicle, rambling on in city streets and rural dirt roads all over the country. Jeepneys are so colorful and attractive, that a tourist with a camera cannot help but take photos of this four-wheeled contraption. Fare rates have been regulated by the government licensing agency and vary from region to region, depending on distance.

City Vehicles

Taxicabs
Metered taxicabs provide the best way to travel in the city or even to outlying areas. A flag-down rate of 30-35 Philippine pesos and P2.50 for every 100 meters is the regulated rate. Traveling outside the city by taxicab is usually by arrangement between the driver and passenger. In the city, a passenger can hail a taxi on the street or call a taxi company for a pre-arranged pick-up and drop-off service. Calling taxi companies for a pickup gives passengers the benefit of simply waiting at a particular location but it might prove more costly as some drivers raise the flag-down rate by turning on the meter even before the passenger could get in the cab.

Metered taxicab

Private cars
There are hundreds of thousands of private cars all over the Philippines. There is nothing like driving your own car in the Philippines. That is, if you are willing to put up with the sometimes horrendous traffic and daredevil local drivers. You need to get a license first, of course. You can buy your own car or rent one from rental agencies like Hertz, Avis, and Budget, which have offices in some of the major cities in the Philippines. You can opt to rent a vehicle with or without a driver. You will find a number of international car brands sold in the Philippines. There are also thousands of used cars for sale at reasonable prices. Because of the rising fuel prices, people have learned to use alternative fuel like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and bio-gasoline.

Private cars on the  road

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