[sustran] Bicycles - Improving the image

[remonde at gsilink.com]

I am from Denmark but have resided in the Philippines since 1992, 
first in Metro Manila, now in Cebu City.

I agree that jeepneys are a very convenient mode of transportation. 
It's very flexible, it's easy to get in and out, and they are 
everywhere. However, more should be done to discipline drivers and 
passengers. The jeepneys disburb others with their swirling from lane to 
lane and dropping off/taking up of passengers on every corner. It 
can't hurt passengers to learn to get on/off on designated bus stops. 
Jeepney drivers, on the other hand, should understand that by 
swirling, they make life difficult for their jeepney driver 
colleagues.

In Cebu, many jeepneys are smoke belchers. We'll soon (hopefully) be 
launching a small project. We call it the Adopt a Jeepney for a 
Cleaner Cebu Project. This takes into consideration that most jeepney 
operators (60%) own only 1 or 2 jeepneys. Their capital is not 
sufficient to have the jeepney overhauled and the oil changed. 
Therefore the smoke belching. We're hoping that private business and 
civic organizations will "adopt" a jeepney, that is, provide small 
subsidies (maybe P2000/year or US$50) to poor jeepney operators. In 
the end, everybody should benefit. And we'll have a cleaner city.

Warmest regards,
Marit Stinus-Remonde
Cebu Environmental Initiatives for Development Center, Inc.


>  >Problem here is that once on the jitneys, people will want to
>  >stay on them to their final destination. People hate to transfer,
>  >and I don't blame them. It's an incredible waste of time. So
>  >you end up with Manila, where the streets are mobbed by jitneys.
> 
> I am from Manila and I LOVE jeepneys (as we call them). I use them
> most of the time, and prefer them to buses. I don't consider them
> problems at all -- they're an efficient public transport mode.
> 
> Obet Verzola
> 
> 
> 
>