Price Per Km Motorbike Ride?

[sandwichmaker]

What's the price? I think taxis charge 20 pesos per km so the price of a ride on the back of a motorbike should be less. I'm talking standard Filipino provincial price.

[Dave Hounddriver]

There you go using logic.  Logically, the habal habals (known by many names but means riding on the back of someone's motorcycle) are not even legal.  The traffic enforcers seem to look the other way when there are few or no other public transportation options and the motorcycle operators seem to police themselves.  I know quite a few in the provinces who don't even have registration and driver's license.

 

So the point is, how can there be a standard price for a service that does not legally exist?  Its like buying any other illegal service, they charge what the market will bear in any given area.  Ask a local what they pay for the trip you plan to take and try to get that same price.

[sjp52]

A motor ( motorcycle ) from my place to sm ( 3 km ) is 10 or 12 peso. If you give the driver 20 pesos he will give you back 8 pesos change. If you give him exactly 10 pesos thats ok.

[MikeB]

In my town tricycles (motorbikes w/sidecars) and "cycads" (sp?) or pedicabs are both 7 pesos. The price is per trip, per person within the town. There are no local jeepneys or taxis so they are the main form of transportation. I rarely ride them because they are death traps but everyone else does. When I do I give the driver p10, no change. There are no brakes on the cycads, the driver (peddler) puts his foot against the moving wheel to slow down or stop (eventually). The trick is to keep moving and avoid stopping which presents some safety issues. 

[the_whipster]

the OP is talking about motorcycle taxis, not trikes i.e. when one or more of you get on the back of somebody's motorcycle to go somewhere. They are usually called 'motor' in the Visayas, they can however also be referred to a 'habel habel'. In rural areas they can often be the only form of transport available,  The highest number of passengers I have ever been one of on a motor was 7, coming 14km down a mountain in the rain in Lanao del Norte. That is high, but being one of three or even four passengers is quite normal. The highest number of passengers I have ever had while driving a motorcycle myself is 3. And two of them were children. Children, and i would imagine seniors as well, normally pay half as is the norm in the Philippines with most forms of public transport. For example I used to get a motor into Villaba town in Leyte from a barangay outside town, for the adult fare 10 pesos whereas kids on their way to school in the morning only paid 5.

 

the fares should normally be less than trikes but not much less. I think the OP is in Compostela at the moment, i would guess a fare from there the 8km to Danao to be between 20 and 30 pesos. So as a general rule of thumb, it is maybe 3 or 4 pesos per km, with a minimum fee of 10 pesos. It seems the convention in the Philippines is that when there are two passengers, they pay two fares, i.e. two lots of 20 pesos but in Cambodia it was not like that and the second passenger would pay only half as much again as the first one, so a 20 fare for one would become a 30 fare for two. Otherwise why not just get two motors? Why sit two passengers up on one motorbike, if you can hire two motorbikes and two drivers, for the same price?

[sandwichmaker]

I travel on a tight budget that's why I ask.

I took a 10km trip (Danao to Compostella) and there were about 5 drivers with their own motors, each calling out to take me and my friend. They were quoting 70 pesos each for the ride (1 of us on each bike = 140 pesos for 2 bikes)..

 

In the end, I chose the bike that had the best seat, which also has the nicest driver. He said 100 for the 2 of us.
Me and my girl-friend sat comfortably on it, so I said lets go. Went to the gas station, she checked the price before he gased up the bike, he said gently 120. I thought screw it, he seemed like such a nice guy, not agressive like a lot of them. Also, giving him a good deal relaxes me because I know he is less likely to argue at the other end.

At the destination, I gave him the 120, not only did he say thank you, but he looked me in the eye at the same time. For sure at the time of the night 10pm, he would likely not find a passenger on the return trip, but 100 would have still been fair on him, judging by what's been said here. 

[sandwichmaker]

There you go using logic.  Logically, the habal habals (known by many names but means riding on the back of someone's motorcycle) are not even legal.  The traffic enforcers seem to look the other way when there are few or no other public transportation options and the motorcycle operators seem to police themselves.  I know quite a few in the provinces who don't even have registration and driver's license.

 

So the point is, how can there be a standard price for a service that does not legally exist?  Its like buying any other illegal service, they charge what the market will bear in any given area.  Ask a local what they pay for the trip you plan to take and try to get that same price.

 

Nice post, but as for "ask a local" - have you ever been to the philippines?! hahaha. Locals don't know squat about anything apart from the stuff they do on a daily basis (which is usually sitting at home - not being racist, just realistic).  Qualify the advice with "ask a knowledgable local IF you can find one and IF the one you find can understand you".   :))

Edited May 2, 2014 by sandwichmaker

[Dave Hounddriver]

Nice post, but as for "ask a local" - have you ever been to the philippines?! hahaha. Locals don't know squat about anything apart from the stuff they do on a daily basis

 

You have a point, but taking motorcycles is something they do on a daily basis.  For example, where I lived before the motorcycle ride was 20 pesos to go 7 km for one filipino.  30 pesos for 2 filipinos or 30 pesos for one big fat foreigner traveling alone.  However, if you did not know that rate and were a foreigner asking "how much" then they would quote 100 or 150.  In addition, the evening rate was double for all fares.  For comparison, the jeepney on the same route was 10 pesos.  The tricycle was 15.  Walking took 1 hour and 15 minutes or more.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Dave Hounddriver

[sandwichmaker]

Hmm. When you say it like that, I think to myself... geez, the drivers really do see my white face and they double or triple the price. But I can hardly cause a fuss about it, not when my pinay friend will also pay the jacked up price (on the occasion that she pays), just because she's with me. EG. on one short trip, it was 30 pesos for a trip - we each took a motorbike, so 60 total. She just gave them 100 pesos and didn't bother with change. It annoys me, but I can hardly complain when she is not complaining, can i ? I feel a little bit conflicted about it. 

 

By the way, "Before" was when?  ("where I lived before the motorcycle ride was")

[i am bob]

I wonder how many of us ever thought of the idea that we are paying more because we take up more space?  Yup!  Our fat asses can cover the area that 2 normal size Filipinos can sit on a bike so don't complain too much if you are only paying 1/2 more again!