wishing for a comprehensive jeepney transit map for Metro Manila

where we deviate from the usual topics here in this blog today to raise this interesting idea I’ve stumbled upon recently.

Every one of us knows how much commuting and the struggles (in the literal sense) behind it has been very much a part of the city and the people who have lived and/or visited it.

Here in the Philippines, the commuting experience would not be complete without having experienced the excitement/discomfort of riding the fabled passenger jeepney.

Having evolved from what was supposed to have been a temporary solution to Manila’s post-WWII transport woes, (since many of the old tranvia lines were destroyed by then) the jeepney has now been dubbed as the country’s “king of the road” as jeepneys of all kinds and sizes have plied the city’s already choked up thoroughfares.

Along with the proliferation of the jeepney is the increasing number of transport routes they now ply. An increase that can be considered remarkable that there’s a slim chance there’s no jeepney going to or near your destination somewhere in the metropolis.

One frustrating part of all this though is the realization that there is no single, comprehensive documentation of all the jeepney routes that currently service different parts of the metropolis. You can just imagine how much help a graphical representation of such routes in a printed or online material would be of big help not only to the residents but visitors to the metropolis as well who would like to get a feel of the Filipino jeepney culture to get to where they need to go.

Of course there are a number of challenges here that must be addressed. One of which is the sheer challenge of how to plot and document hundreds of jeepney routes scattered all over the city, which by itself will require a lot of time and effort.  There’s also the caveat that must be remembered that these jeepney routes are not always followed, especially in certain conditions.

Nevertheless, the need for such a resource cannot be discounted. It is the dream of commuters and roamers like me that someone take the cudgels and at least lay the groundwork of realizing this idea.