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About Jeepneys
The Honest System We Have Overlooked.
The One Honest System In the Philippines Everyone Overlooks
I saw an article about how one bus line now uses the “honesty box” as a way to pay for bus fare. This system only takes cash and you can’t get change. I didn’t think that there was anything new or novel with the idea, because we see this in other parts of the world, but what was surprising to me was how a lot of the commenters thought this system will fail in the Philippines because Filipinos are not honest.
I was a bit awestruck because jeepneys, a transportation mode used by most Filipinos run by the honest system. So honest, my friends in the US can’t even believe that this system exists because it would be so easy for people to just not pay.
For those of you who don’t know the system this is basically how it breaks down:
When a passenger rides a jeepney, they can pay the driver anytime during the trip. They will hand their fare to the driver, oftentimes needing to pass it to another passenger to then extend it to the driver. The driver will then ask where this person is going and where they came from, and then hand back the change if necessary. If it’s early on during their shift, the passenger may…
