"Transportation" is gallery 3 of 5 from my recent trip to Cebu, Philippines. The streets of Cebu and Mactan are dominated by several distinct types of vehicles; motorcycles and scooters, bicycles, tricycle taxis and the infamous "Jeepnies".
A tricycle taxi is a motorcycle with a sidecar attached. They don't look like they could carry more than 3 people but I've seen as many as 8 people squeezed onto a tricycle taxi. It's an astounding sight to see. "Jeepnies" are sort of a frankenstien-ish fusion between a jeep and a small bus or van. The owner / operators like to deorate their Jeepnies lavishly, well, as lavishly as possible given their economic situation. The "Jeepnies" run routes but it doesn't seem to have any sort of organized logic. Some "Jeepnie" drivers stick to a specific route, others run various routes, but most of them will have the general area in which they operate written somewhere on the "Jeepnie". It costs about 7 pesos (25 cents in USD) to ride the "Jeepnie" maybe more depending on how far you travel. You can pretty much flag one down anywhere on the street, as there aren't bus stops as we know them. You can also jump off anywhere you want. I like to ride on the back of the "Jeepnie" hanging onto a hand rail, the wind blowing in my face. When I want to jump off I just bang on the roof and the driver will slow down a little bit.
It was also quite incredulous to see how many people can fit onto a regular motorcycle or scooter. I saw two grown adults and two children, for a total of four people riding on a motorcycle. Like most things in Cebu, it's simply a matter of necessity. For those lucky enough to own motorized transportation, the motorcycle or scooter is a luxury item.
Enjoy the photo gallery!
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