Passenger Talesstories about my experiences as a traveler and passenger

1.) Hold-uppers – I’m sure jeepney drivers hate hold-uppers because they these people threaten the drivers at gun point and rob them of their hard-earned money. Sometimes drivers not only lose their earnings for the day to these criminals but also their lives.

2.) Corrupt police, traffic enforcers, Citos, MMDAs etc. – I would have put these people in number one but at least they don’t kill the drivers ( I think). Drivers hate these people in general because they prevent drivers from breaking traffic rules and regulations. It’s a cat and mouse thing, in a neutral setting, neither is good or bad, it’s just the way it is. Drivers want to get as many passengers and do as many rounds as possible to have more money. Sometimes they break the rules to get ahead. Police and traffice enforcers are there for the safety of both drivers and passengers that is why they monitor and call the attention of the erring drivers. Both have important roles to play in society. Nevertheless, there are police officers and traffic enforcers who are always on the look-out for erring drivers in order to get fast cash. Instead of giving tickets to the drivers, they are open to or demand bribes. During peak seasons, some enforcers just make up charges or make a big deal out of minor infractions just to get some money. I heard that P500 is now the minimum payout or maybe that’s just for private vehicles. Although in many cases, drivers rather pay bribes than having to go and get their driver’s license from the LTO and waste a day’s pay or earning. So corruption in this case is a two-way street. As they say in economics, there can be no market if there are no buyers or sellers.

3.) Unofficial Barkers – I just noticed that there has been a proliferation of barkers. Almost all street corners or places where passengers converge have them. Some of these barkers are not really needed. They just want to make fast cash off the drivers.

4.) Non-paying Passengers – These people take advantage of the fact that it is hard for drivers to track passengers who have paid or not. They want a free ride. Earlier, there was a student who did not pay for his ride. His other classmates paid and they were urging him teasingly to pay his fare but he did not. He just got off the jeepney with his friends shrugging off their advise.

5.) Undisciplined Passengers – These are passengers who want to get off where they want to without regard for the proper loading and unloading zones. Or those passengers who sit like they own the jeepney or bus without regard for their fellow passengers. So why would a jeepney driver dislike such a passenger when they usually just affect their co-passengers? Well, a driver could lose a prospective passenger because a person does not make room for another person.

I don’t know if this is really what driver’s think but these are based from my observations. People may agree or disagree with the ranking or any or all of the five things but I believe that my observations have merit.