Filipinos already know the dismal state of traffic and transportation in Manila, a fact that has been validated by the fact that a recent study ranked it as having the fifth worst public transport system in the world.
Yet with the holiday season here, the Christmas rush has only made the city’s road situation even worse, with stories of cars moving at a snail’s pace across main roads such as EDSA, packed jeepneys and buses, overcharging cabs, as well as wait times as long as four hours for Grab cars besieging social media.
“It’s so hard to commute during the holiday season. I left at 3:30 to get out of EDSA and return home to Cavite. It’s nearly 7pm and I still can’t get home,” user u/DualityofRyujin shared on Reddit.
The Redditor elaborated that he tried booking a motorcycle taxi service to Cavite to no avail, and decided to ride a shared taxi to Robinsons Galleria but was still unsuccessful in getting a ride — and then decided to catch a bus at the PITX terminal in Pasay instead.
“Now, I’m stuck at PITX. I was planning to work when I got home. Commuting really is a waste of time,” the user said.
Another post by David Perez on Facebook lamented the monopoly Grab enjoys over the ride-sharing space, as well as taxi drivers’ toxic mentality.
“We all saw the Atom Araullo post recently. Unfortunately, I suffered the same fate as Atom THRICE in 24 hours,” he wrote.
In his post, he detailed how three taxi drivers managed to offer inflated fares from SM Mall of Asia to Dampa Seaside Market, a three-kilometer distance.
“Considering the proximity, we estimated our taxi ride to be around PHP80 or so. Good… until we encountered multiple taxis who refused fare,” he wrote.
He said that one taxi offered a fixed rate of PHP300, another wanted PHP250, while one driver asked for PHP300.
A fourth cab drove by and offered a fixed rate of PHP150, which the poster said was “still an overcharge” but they took it as it was the cheapest offer.
He also shared that the Grab app had charged him and his group PHP513 from Makati to the Scout area in Quezon City.
“The price is monstrously expensive, and that’s already discounted because I have a voucher. Disgusting,” he wrote.
One Twitter user posted a video of Market! Market!’s congested public transport terminal that went viral.
Another also warned concertgoers about the traffic situation at the Mall of Asia Arena and said it was hard to get a ride home even on a Sunday at 11pm, with no Grab cars available as well as hellish queues for jeepneys and shared taxis.
These commuter stories come just after GMA News anchor Atom Araullo tweeted about being unable to get a ride home from the airport in now-viral social media posts.
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