# TRANSPORTATION in and around Manila...



## Cebu Citizen

I have read several posts about transportation in and around the Manila Metro area and the mention of taxi's, buses, bicycle pedicabs, motorcycle sidecars, Jeepney's, LRT, (light rail trains), etc. Some of these can be expensive...some are simply not safe. But I do not recall reading any posts or comments about the U.V. Express Services, (which stands for Utility Vehicle Express - although they now have several vans as well as utility vehicles).

For those of you who are not familiar with it, the UV Express Service is a franchise operation and they are all required to follow a very strict set of rules when it comes to driving their routes and pricing. My wife and I use it a lot and we can travel to any part of the main Manila Metro area for less than 45 pesos and many times for less than 20 pesos in the comfort of a new model air conditioned van or utility vehicle. There are hundreds of these vehicles, all painted the same color of off-white with the same exact business name and lettering style on the sides of all vehicles. Typically each UV Express will carry ten passengers, two up front with the driver, four in the middle bench seat and four in the two rear seats. Some of the newer vans can carry a few more passengers. Most of these passengers are working class Filipino's going to and from work.

The drivers pay a daily fee to use the vehicle and what they collect from the passengers is their pay. They WILL NOT over-charge you because they can lose their driver privilege with UV Express and therefore lose their job. The drivers are also required to pay for their own gas...they check the vehicle out of the motor pool with a full tank of gas and must return it the same way with a full tank of gas. Because they get to keep the money they collect, they are always looking for another possible passenger. However, they have specific routes that they must follow and they can only charge a set fee for any persons ride.

It might seem like they are moving so slow because they are always slowing down to see if anyone standing on the curbs wants to ride, but these drivers are great at reading eye contact and figuring out who wants to ride and who does not and they actually can get across the city fairly quickly. The route of each vehicle is usually painted on the vehicle but do not always trust that because sometimes the drivers will switch vehicles or change their route for a day or two, so ALWAYS go by the little sign hanging in the front windshield just below the rear view mirror...this is the true route that particular vehicle is traveling on at that time and you can be guaranteed this is where you will go.

The only down side that I have experienced is that the drivers want to keep their vehicle full of passengers, (more people,, more pay), so it can get a little crowded but the upside to this is that most Filipinos are small in size and I have never been that crowded and then only for a short drive until one of the passengers gets off at their stop.

The best part is that you can travel all around the Metro Manila area, to virtually every corner of the city, in the relative comfort of a new air conditioned vehicle for a very small amount of money. And these drivers will stop anywhere on there route...

All you need to know is the area you are traveling to and if you are not sure, ask the driver and he will tell you if his particular route is going to the area you want to get to...and if not, he will tell you which UV Express to get on. Flag down the appropriate UV Express you need to be on and jump on board for an inexpensive and comfortable ride to anywhere in Manila.

Here is a list of the routes currently available:

Almar - Ayala
Almar - TM Kalaw
Almeda - Landmark
Ayala - G. Tuazon
Ayala Center - Suki Market
Baesa - Central Integrated Terminal
Bagong Silang - Cubao
Bagong Silang - SM City North
Better Living _ Ortigas Center
Bagumbong - Blumentritt
BF Paranaque - Ayala
BF Resort Village - Ayala Center Terminal
Bicutan - Quiapo
Bignay - SM City North
Conception - Ayala
Conception - SM Megamall
Cubao - Marikina
Deparo - Blumentritt
Deparo - Central Integrated Terminal
Deparo - Cubao
Deparo - Fairview
Deparo - SM North
Deparo - Monumento
Dreamland - Market-Market
Festival Mall - Market-Market
Festival Mall - SM Mall of Asia
Festival Mall - Park and Ride
FTI - Ayala Center
FTI - Quiapo
Grennhills Shopping Center - SM Megamall
Lagro - TM Kalaw
Malabon - Ayala
Marikina - Quiapo
Marikina - Megamall
Marikina - Ortigas
Marimart - SM City North
Mindanao Ave. - SM North
MRT North Edsa - San Bartolome
Novaliches - Central Integrated Terminal
Novaliches - Cubao
Novaliches - SM North
Parang - Cubao
Pasig - Grennhilss Shopping Center
Pasig - Marikina
Pateros - TM Kalaw
Proj. 6 - TM Kalaw
Proj.6 - Buendia
Robinson (Novaliches) - Vito Cruz
San Bartolome - MRT
SM Bicutan - Lawton
SM Fairview - C.I.T
SM Fairview - SM North
SM Fairview - TM Kalaw
SM Fairview - Cubao
SM Mall of Asia - Sta. Ana
SM North - Novaliches
SM North - TM Kalaw
Southmall - Lawton
Sucat - Ayala
Star Mall - Ayala
Sucat - Quiapo
Trinoma Mall - Robinson`s ( Novaliches )

*Happy Traveling!* And stay safe out there...


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## galactic

Very nice detailed informative post sir.

Let me add my thoughts and be someone who sides with caution.

Only downside to this, as with any other public transport, is hold up.
Because UV express does not have a terminal only pick up and drop point, passengers including bad guys can get in anywhere along the routes and being an enclosed aircondition van, holduppers have an upper hand in the confined space.
But these kinds of incidence are at low. It's either the crime rate regarding UV express has dropped or media just tends to focus on a more national issue like the wedding of a senator


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## Cebu Citizen

galactic said:


> Very nice detailed informative post sir.
> 
> Let me add my thoughts and be someone who sides with caution.
> 
> Only downside to this, as with any other public transport, is hold up.
> Because UV express does not have a terminal only pick up and drop point, passengers including bad guys can get in anywhere along the routes and being an enclosed aircondition van, holduppers have an upper hand in the confined space.
> But these kinds of incidence are at low. It's either the crime rate regarding UV express has dropped or media just tends to focus on a more national issue like the wedding of a senator




Though anything is certainly possible and a robbery can take place most anywhere, I do not feel threatened in the least little bit on a UV Express. Plus most of the vehicles are equipped with a video camera on the dash. I DO feel vulnerable in a taxi or on a Jeepney or a Pedicab because you look at the very nature of most of these people, some of them don't look like they have even had a shower recently. However; on the UV Express Vehicles, the level or class of people using this transportation source is a clear step above, students and young professional workers. Though anything can certainly happen here in paradise, a thief on a UV Express to me is far less likely to happen than being by yourself in a taxi or Jeepney. Just my thoughts...

I would rather be surrounded by a half dozen other nice people in a UV Express as far as safety goes, and not alone in a taxi or crowded in a Jeepney with some shady looking characters.


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## galactic

Cebu Citizen said:


> Plus most of the vehicles are equipped with a video camera on the dash.


I did not notice this the last time I rode one. 
This is a good deterrent to any aspiring bad guy.


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## galactic

Cebu Citizen said:


> . However; on the UV Express Vehicles, the level or class of people using this transportation source is a clear step above, students and young professional workers.


Prime target  BUT you have a feel for the lay of the land in your area. Your guts have obviously guided you in the right decisions.

Im just a little uneasy on public transport. My brother was robbed at knifepoint in an airconditioned bus plying the Makati area but that was years ago. Security awareness and the advent of wifi cellular technology has been a friend by commuters.


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## Cebu Citizen

galactic said:


> Prime target  BUT you have a feel for the lay of the land in your area. Your guts have obviously guided you in the right decisions.QUOTE]
> 
> 
> 
> I've made my errors but I have learned from them! I was robbed of a 40,000php Samsung Galaxy Note 4 mobile device a few weeks ago because I ignored all of my own personal rules for safety and I let my guard down at the wrong time and place and some attentive thief pounced on the opportunity near the Manila Zoo. Typically I am very vigil and alert to my surroundings and they have served me well for the past 59 years.
> 
> The problems that I did not pay attention to that day...I had an expensive electronic device out in public...I placed it in my back pocket after using it...I was sitting with my back to an open area...I did not pay attention to the people passing behind me...I let my guard down while carrying on a personal conversation with my wife...and bad things happen to those who invite bad things to happen to them! Pure and simple...I screwed up and I paid the price for my errors but gained much insight from my situation. We live and learn...I am just thankful that I am still living because here they will just as easily cut your throat for a few peso's!
> 
> I still love it here and have no intention of ever leaving and I still get out and travel the city when necessary with relative safety and comfort on the UV Express vehicles. Should anyone ever try to rob me, they can have it because I never carry anything of value and I never have more than a few measly pesos anyway, (and I never travel alone).


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## galactic

Oh yeah, I read the post about that tragic incident but sh8 happens anywhere.


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## simonsays

galactic said:


> I did not notice this the last time I rode one.
> This is a good deterrent to any aspiring bad guy.


Cameras? The natives don't care about it as the PNP will like never catch any of them unless there was a murder during the hold up and it becomes big news. Most likely the cops know the suspects but dare not trace them especially with the low wages the cops make unless somebody paid the cops to investigate (yes, you can do it if you want to resolve the crime and I know few relatives in PNP)

Personally two of my Manila colleagues working in Makati were in UV express hold ups and different times and one was forced to give her wedding ring as well as her cheap Casio G Shock watch. And in both cases the news wasn't even mentioned in any media


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## M.C.A.

I wouldn't travel this way either but if I had to, I'd take the big bus and get stuck in jeepeny like a sardine over that form of travel (van), to many bad stories on those vans over the years and go with what eucerilx says the police and hoodlums are one and the same no proof and not much news coverage just a quick story and no follow up, keeps the tourism alive and well.


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