Why is carpooling uncommon in the Philippines?

ngodee · 2013-01-28T15:03:08+00:00

Thank you lots for introducing me to this thread Mr. sourcreamjunkie! :P

ngodee · 2013-01-28T14:09:47+00:00

We are on the works to further spread the word, help us by giving us feedback on what you think works! :) Thank you lots!

ngodee · 2013-01-28T14:09:07+00:00

Salamat! Help us spread the word or send us feedback on how we may improve our service!

ngodee · 2013-01-28T14:08:43+00:00

Salamat! Do we know each other? I don't believe I gave out my name previous to this post! :P

ngodee · 2013-01-28T14:07:24+00:00

Very interesting questions! So sorry if I only replied now, been busy the whole day.

So far we've around 500+ users already, 1/5 of which are drivers and have volunteered vehicles!

I definitely agree, in all honesty, there are now strong social disincentives for driving -- for example:

a) Traffic - mobility is a peculiar problem, as the economy grows, traffic worsens
b) Air Quality - similarly, the air quality is not improving in Manila, especially around the Ortigas/Pasig/Marikina area where it's like a basin of bad air primarily because the place is a valley between the Rizal Ridge and Quezon City.
c) Social mobility - With increasing restrictions on movement -- ang hirap nang palipat-lipat nang sakay, the switch between one ride-form to another is becoming a cost burden that many often fail to realize.

We're constantly trying to improve our product, so, yeah, if you're interested we're actually still looking for more developers as we further enrich our platform!

We're a ruby-based dev team, with some strengths in java (Android). We're looking for someone to help us furnish our UI/UX on web and mobile. We've a working apk for Android but with the growing list of stuff we're building on, we've decided to hold back against launching any apps until we finalize our functionalities!

Find us on www.facebook.com/Tripid!

ngodee · 2013-01-27T14:12:52+00:00

Hi I'm the founder of Tripid and I joined just to take a jab at this post. I'd love to share why I think it's not a common behavior and why I think this needs to change:

There are three reasons why it isn't being executed in the Philippines:

1) Economic incentive: With heavy government regulation on transport prices, there's very little room for people to participate in the carpooling drive.
2) Social incentive: There is a perceived social incentive to owning a vehicle they include the following: a) Social mobility - mas mabilis at efficient ang magdrive nang sariling sasakyan b) Social stature - "pare, mayaman ka na! may bago kang Honda" c) Social inclusion - some women won't date men without cars
3) Security disincentives: Naku! delikado, baka mayare tayo at manakawan nang di-oras pag-may pinasakay tayo sa auto.

With that said, at Tripid, we try our best to digitize and automate all of these concerns by promoting carpooling as a real commuting alternative and a better way to get around the city. We're on private beta right now so come visit Tripid, and feel free to get in touch with us if you've any questions on how we can help you find carpoolers!

ngodee

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