As travellers, the one that you should take to consider for travel is the way of transportation. This is the most important factor of going to anywhere. You need to know the fare and the safety of the place. Preferably, to those who want to save money while going to somewhere, they choose cheaper fare, but safety and travel time are not being considered.
Jeepneys
You can find it mostly operating in the busy main roads of the city and in the rural areas. It is accessible because there are plenty of units passing frequently. It creates noise on the streets and like a roller coaster when about to start. In the Philippines, I heard some information that there are approx. 200,000 units of jeepneys, wherein approx. 55,000 in Metro Manila alone. In 2021, the base fare for a jeepney ride is USD 0.15. In 2022, the minimum fare is USD 0.2. How to ride? First, you go up and then you give the fare to the passenger next to you if you occupied the seats far from the driver. If you need a change, the driver will pass it to the passenger next to him for you get it. When you experienced, it feels like you belong as one of a local residents.
This is a Jeepney. You can get up and down easily.
Yellow signages indicates the route or mostly, there are sign boards in front as passengers guide for the correct route.
Buses
If you want a more comfortable and easy travel, I recommend buses. They are airconditioned, also operating inside Metro Manila and have provincial buses for those living outside the Metro. There are bus terminals for going to Northern part and have separate terminals of going to Southern portion of Metro Manila. This time, no need to pass the fare to fellow passengers because it has a conductor collecting the fare and he gives a signal to the driver if the passenger is about to go down. The fare depends on the distance
There are bus stations in the Philippines depending on your destinations. You can book online for the tickets or can go to bus station directly.
Vans
Some natives are using a public utility vehicles called UV Express such as van. The fare is shared by the passengers in a certain trip. The total capacity is 19 passengers including the driver. For UV Express around Metro Manila, the system is same as riding in a jeep because you must pass the fare to fellow passengers and handed to the driver. For provincial trip, there is a dispatcher who collected the fare at the terminal.
Taxi
In urban area, there are more public taxis. It has a colour like yellow, black, red and white. According to locals, those are from different taxi companies. I experienced to get a non-metered taxi for many times and it is not recommended. Because the driver demands high fare even though the place to go is near. I recommend Uber and Grab because you will know the exact fare right after using the apps.
Tricycle
If Thailand has Tuk tuk, in Philippines, they have tricycle. It only occupies 1 to 4 person in a trip depending on the passenger if they want to occupy without picking up others. This is used in going to near places inside the city and not allowed to operate in the high way. Fare per head is almost the same in jeepney. In rural areas, this is very common. Normally, this a public vehicle mostly found at the techno parks, schools, markets and outside the subdivisions. For foreigners, the driver will ask different fare compare to local. Must take note if this for future travel.
