Commuting in the Philippines by Riding a Jeepney
Choosing the Right Jeep
"Travel is a means to an end: Home."
So goes a statement printed on one of London Underground's flyers.
True enough, I find myself spending minutes every day traveling to reach that particular end: home. Nevertheless, in the Philippines where passenger jeepneys are often used as commuters' vehicles, there are no strict rules on loading and unloading of passengers. Hence, we should carefully chose the jeep we are going to ride. Here are jeepneys to avoid riding:
- Jeepneys waiting for a long time at a particular point. This should be avoided because a jeepney waiting for some time at a particular point will definitely wait at another point for the same period of time, making us waste our time.
- Jeepneys which run too fast. We might encounter difficulties in getting the jeepney to stop just so we can disembark.
- Jeepneys already full of passengers. If the jeepneys already full of passengers still pick-up some passengers, it will most likely pick-up more passengers even if there is not enough space.
- Jeepneys driven by reckless drivers. We don't have seat belts in the jeep so it is very unsafe to ride jeepneys driven by reckless drivers who are known for sudden acceleration and overspeeding.
- Jeepneys that stop in the middle of the road. Most likely, the jeepney driver will let you get off the jeep at the middle of the road or the intersection when you want to get off.
- Jeepneys with people smoking while in them. You don't want to smell like cigarette smoke or to inhale nicotine into your system.
- Last but not the least, jeepneys that will not pass by your target get-off point.
