This is why we can’t have nice things.
A bus company announced yesterday that it will be ending its honesty payment system, where passengers are asked to put their fare inside a box voluntarily. The company said they’re doing this after it discovered that quite a number of people choose not to pay their fare.
Greenfrog Hybrid Bus Company posted yesterday: “We are disappointed to see that the honesty system did not work. Over 30% of the passengers did not pay their fare. We are returning to the conductor fare collection system again.”
The post has been shared almost 1,000 times.
Simply called Green Frog, the bus company uses hybrid buses or vehicles which are powered by electricity and diesel.
In a phone interview with Coconuts Manila, a Green Frog employee who just wanted to be identified as Jackie said the honesty system was implemented for only a few days before the company decided to end it. The system was implemented on its two buses which plied the C5 Bunting to SM Mall of Asia route.
“The passengers are supposed to put their money into this box [that was installed inside the bus]. But when the bus gets too crowded, many don’t pay,” she said.
Green Frog’s case mirrors the decision of the Manila Police District to close its honesty store in August last year after they discovered that more than PHP10,000- worth (US$189.58) of goods had been stolen.
Another local bus company, G. Liner, has one honesty bus that covers the Taytay-Quiapo route. The system seems to be working in the company’s favor because it’s still operating eight months after it was launched.
Green Frog’s post attracted many sad and angry reactions from netizens. A netizen using the name Riese VP wrote that the same dishonest passengers would probably prefer to spend their money on expensive coffee and cigarettes.
Russell Delos Reyes wrote: “I really want to believe in Filipinos’ virtues. But these kinds of events bring me back to reality. Who rides Green Frog? People who are educated or those who work. People who live in Payatas [dump site] won’t ride these buses.”
“So what’s the problem? The poor? Or those Filipinos who can solve the problem but become part of society’s ills?” he asked.
But one woman named Cindy Solano preferred to see things differently. She wrote that it was sad that people focused on the 30 percent dishonest passengers instead of thinking of the 70 percent who chose to be honest. She said Filipinos cannot be judged on the actions of the passengers who cheated the company.
Why do you think Green Frog’s system failed? Tell us by leaving a comment below or tweeting to @CoconutsManila.
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