Jeepney scourge of da Philippines?

[Dave Hounddriver]

34 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

a family need

We tend to convince ourselves of that, as many do.  And if I have kids i will also feel the need (I already feel the want LOL)  But studies in the west have shown that ride sharing or public transportation up to and including taxis is what the public NEED.  I believe getting rid of tricycles and replacing them with taxis would take care of your families needs and I believe you could use taxis for the rest of your life and it would not cost as much as the capital cost plus gas, depreciation and maintenance of running the average mid size car. (My belief is merely an opinion and yours will surely be different)

So because there are no taxis in Dumaguete I concede your family needs a car, but the same is not true in Manila or Cebu, is it?

In addition, when I did own a car and a motorcycle, I walked when I could.  I took jeeps and tricycles when it was not too inconvenient, I took my motorcycle when it was just me traveling and I only used the pickup truck when there were a few of us travelling or I needed to carry stuff in the back.  I see way to many filipinas driving huge SUVs when they are the only passenger and indeed the only reason to do so is to drive around looking cool and showing off.  I could name names right here in Dumaguete but I won't.  The foreign husbands of these princesses just want to spoil their little darlings and it surely does not help with congestion on the roads.

[AlwaysRt]

2 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Having seen SO many Ceres busses "acting like" jeepneys here in Duma I think you would be disappointed if the jeeps were gone and replaced with busses.

My understanding is this problem is caused by Ceres itself as the commission pay for junior drivers incentivises this behavior. 

1 hour ago, Tukaram (Tim) said:

But I think the biggest problem on our roads is the abundance of private vehicles. 

Lack of discipline in driving habits is a huge problem but that is more of a lack of enforcement issue.

I think the second statment is closer to the problem which is made worse by the first statement. Actual driver's training and meaningful driver's test to prove knowlege of rules of the road and how to drive before getting a license. Then enforcement of rules of the road and licenses required to drive.

49 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

far better we have New vehicles on the road than the crap that is running Round. Time to start a programme of 15 to 20 years old,  off the road and on the scrap heap. Won't ever come I know But...........Wishful thinking here 

 

Kinda like arbitrarily saying a 60 year old should be scrapped from a relationship with a 20 something Filipina ain't it? 

A 3 year old vehicle could be modified and beat the crap out of to the point of not being road worthy while a 30 year old vehicle purrs like a kitten. Depends on maintenance. Sooooo, if the vehicle inspectors actually did their job and only passed road worthy vehicles we would all be better off.

...And to all 3 quotes above, as the wise man once said....

"Won't ever come I know But...........Wishful thinking here"

[Jack Peterson]

6 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

But studies in the west have shown that ride sharing or public transportation up to and including taxis is what the public NEED.

Fine for the West but you try and get a Tricycle with working lights up here after 6pm or at 6.30 am when we need one. No! My family is safe in the knowledge that I took the Need as a protection against all things we talk of here about Safety on the Roads. I take all the other things you say in mind but on this I can't be swayed 

[Jack Peterson]

5 minutes ago, AlwaysRt said:

Kinda like arbitrarily saying a 60 year old should be scrapped from a relationship with a 20 something Filipina ain't it? 

 Silence is golden on this one

[sonjack2847]

3 hours ago, AlwaysRt said:

My understanding is this problem is caused by Ceres itself as the commission pay for junior drivers incentivises this behavior. 

I think the second statment is closer to the problem which is made worse by the first statement. Actual driver's training and meaningful driver's test to prove knowlege of rules of the road and how to drive before getting a license. Then enforcement of rules of the road and licenses required to drive.

Kinda like arbitrarily saying a 60 year old should be scrapped from a relationship with a 20 something Filipina ain't it? 

A 3 year old vehicle could be modified and beat the crap out of to the point of not being road worthy while a 30 year old vehicle purrs like a kitten. Depends on maintenance. Sooooo, if the vehicle inspectors actually did their job and only passed road worthy vehicles we would all be better off.

...And to all 3 quotes above, as the wise man once said....

"Won't ever come I know But...........Wishful thinking here"

Yes this is true,if some maintenance was done on the Jeepneys then they would be safer and cause less pollution.People who have been here longer than me have told me that the emission test is a joke and half the time they don`t even turn on the machine .I have not heard of a vehicle inspection like we have in the UK with the yearly MOT test.

[Sander Martin]

7 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

The only way busses would be an improvement is if they were forced to stop at designated bus stops and nowhere else.  If jeepneys had to do the same they would not be a problem.  Just build "pull offs" every quarter mile where the Public Utility Busses (jeeps or bussees) must pick up and drop off and make the public learn to walk up to a quarter mile.  Heck, I practice what I preach and walk at least 2 miles a day, usually more like 6 miles but I'm not saying everyone should do that.

But thats not how things work here. Most Filipinos take the Jeepny even if the walking distance is 200-300meters.. I was allways surprised how my wife wanted to take the Jeepny in Cebu IT town when we went for lunch or dinner. The restaurants were 1 minute Jeep ride or 200-500meters awey. I allways insisted on walking :D.

 

[DavidK]

As someone who drives daily jeepneys are a major problem. They are polluting, badly maintained and badly driven. Traffic on three lane roads (each direction) even runs slow when you get a pod of jeepneys on it. They take up at least two lanes, force slow moving traffic into the other available lane, pull out and cut in without warning, rarely have visible turn indicators and frequently run at night without lights at all at all.

Removing them from the roads and having larger capacity (but less frequent) buses with designated drop off/pick up points would be a good start in improving traffic flow. 

[expatuk2014]

I hate jeepneys !! They first of all were built for Filipinos and me being 5"6 means when they hit a bump in the road my

Head hits the roof !? and when my wife says 2 seniors I get funny looks from the other passengers and some comments 

as well ! Nobody walks anywhere here even the students use jeepneys for a 100yrd journey.

Health and safety rules non existant, the smoke tests are a joke ! But hey its the Philippines !

Live like a Filipino !

 

 

[Jollygoodfellow]

20 hours ago, Old55 said:

IMO any larger city should do away with them and encourage bus service public or private.

One problem I see is many of the roads here can not fit a big bus so jeepneys are the way it works. 

[SNAFU]

This is truly one of those "YRMV" and "it depends" topics, if ever I've seen one! Our jeepney opinions here are largely influenced by our differing personal experience, where we live, lifestyles, schedules, levels of tolerance for "pain", etc. Myself, I'm a regular jeepney rider, and quite enjoy the value, fellowship and even entertainment sometimes, ha! Asawa suggested I learned to ride solo early-on, and I'm glad I did. I also realize it's just not for everybody, and that's OK, too. My SIL owns/operates 2 jeepneys (outside of our local boundary), and our neighbor has a fleet of 15. Despite their age (~20 yrs), their jeepneys are cleaned and maintained meticulously, including major overhauls, and are compliant with all current LTO requirements. The rub, however, is that their operations are probably the exception, rather than the norm here. I spent 10 years as a public transportation professional (and daily rider) with a major US metro transit agency, but have no idea how any of that experience and process maps to the way public transit works, or could work, here. So...

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

- Reinhold Niebuhr