Busses, Jeepneys, Tricyclcle,..Oh My

[intrepid]

For those that do not own their own car, for whatever your reason may be, what are you spending monthly for transportation?  Include also if you have school age children that you pay either private service or other transportation.  With the rising costs of fuel we are now spending about P7,000. per month in fuel alone.  Of course there is maintenance, license registration, insurance, and don't forget I have several stickers for private roads and subdivision.  that we pay also.   However, I don't think we could manage without a car too easily with school and many other functions.  But at times with parking and traffic, I sometimes wish we had no car.

[Dr. Shiva]

I did once a calculation based on 10 php per ride (Tricycle or Jeepney) per person in a smaller city up to 4 km. Two persons who are taking 5 rides per day uses 100 php. Calculating for 30 days will result in 3k php of fare costs. But most time this will not be reached or surpassed. Most people tend only to ride twice or trice per day. And sometime only one person takes a ride on a day.

EDIT: For taxis they cost much more but you can take up to 4 people along with one ride. A tricycle for 4 people costs php 40 which is the flag down cost for a taxi. For the small price increasement you will get a more convenient ride.

EDIT 2: A small comparison. In Switzerland riding the public bus for the same distance for one person will costs up to 180 php or even more if in a bigger city. Or 18 rides in the philippines for the price of one ride in Switzerland.

Edited March 13, 2018 by Dr. Shiva
Adding more stuff

[Tukaram (Tim)]

I am about an hour from the city, by jeepney. We have to leave the city by 4 or 430 pm to get a jeep before they all fill up (the drivers go home for dinner and most do not go back for evening runs).  There are many times I wish we had a car.  But I just cannot justify the expense, or headache, involved.

I have not tracked expenses lately, but have tracked the money before.  Last time I tracked it we spent bout p1,500 on jeep/taxis for the month - but it is just my wife and I. We do not have school runs for any kids.  Going to town is p7 each, going to the city is p16 or p18 each.  Hard to pay for a car as cheap as the jeeps are. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

55 minutes ago, Tukaram (Tim) said:

Hard to pay for a car as cheap as the jeeps are.

And then there are some places (many of them in smaller communities) where jeeps are practically non existant.  Biliran comes to mind.  Chances of getting a jeep are slim.  They are basically just local people with their own jeep who go to work in the morning and take a load of passengers and come home after work, again with a load of passengers.  During the day there may be one every couple of hours if you are lucky and live on a main road.  There are also very few motorized tricycles.  The transport of the day is a pedal cab or sitting on the back of a habal habal. And if you want to venture out after 6 PM or before 5 AM you are S.O.L. unless you know someone you can call to give you a ride.

So location, location, location is what its all about when it comes to needing a car.  If someone was living downtown Cebu, in IT Park, and everything he needed was in walking distance and cabs are plentiful and cheap then he would not need a car.

 

[virginprune]

We use trikes, usual cost is around P300-P400 weekly. This is for two of us depending on how many trips. No jeepney routes where we live.

[Jollygoodfellow]

4 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

If someone was living downtown Cebu, in IT Park, and everything he needed was in walking distance and cabs are plentiful and cheap then he would not need a car.

So true and when the Ayala mall over the road opens will save me a walk to the main Ayala. Usually now only use a taxi on the return from a mall or supermarket. 

[expatuk2014]

Our car expenses for Feb inc trips to Divisoria,SM STA Rosa  4 times , inc driver,meals toll fees etc and fuel

Was 4300 pesos. We like eating out and trying new places, and i hate travelling in Jeepneys !

For most i need a crash helmet getting in and out of them ! For me the Distance we travel in Jeepneys 

For me is walking distance ! But its anti Filipino to walk😀

We use the brothers tricycle for local trips and we pay him 150 php and feed him depending aon where we have to go.

 

[Jack Peterson]

Well I guess we all need an Alternative if they Do go on strike

[Dr. Shiva]

11 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

And then there are some places (many of them in smaller communities) where jeeps are practically non existant.  Biliran comes to mind.  Chances of getting a jeep are slim.  They are basically just local people with their own jeep who go to work in the morning and take a load of passengers and come home after work, again with a load of passengers.  During the day there may be one every couple of hours if you are lucky and live on a main road.  There are also very few motorized tricycles.  The transport of the day is a pedal cab or sitting on the back of a habal habal. And if you want to venture out after 6 PM or before 5 AM you are S.O.L. unless you know someone you can call to give you a ride.

So location, location, location is what its all about when it comes to needing a car.  If someone was living downtown Cebu, in IT Park, and everything he needed was in walking distance and cabs are plentiful and cheap then he would not need a car.

 

Similar experiences I got on Siquijor. Somewhat decent availability of tricycles in Siquijor Town or Larena. But on the Siquijor Circumferential Road there was only rarely a jeepney, bus or even tricycle visible. Most time they only run, when a ferry is arriving or before departing.

This is why I will choose a city over a province town due better availability of public transportation and other services  and amenities.

But even in the bigger cities are areas where the only available public transportation are taxi cabs or grab taxis and you will have to call them first. Another issue is (especially in bigger subdivisions) that public transportation (almost tricycles and habal-habal) is only available to your home but not when you are leaving to go to the city.

1 minute ago, Jack Peterson said:

Well I guess we all need an Alternative if they Do go on strike

Yeah, we all have an alternative build in already: Our feets! 

[intrepid]

37 minutes ago, Dr. Shiva said:

Yeah, we all have an alternative build in already: Our feets! 

Haha, your right,...the ShoeLeather Express!