By Car or By Bus?

 

Written by Joanna Andrade

 

            When I came to live in the United States 15 years ago, one major aspect of American culture that quickly changed my life was the mode of travel.  In the Philippines were I grew up, most Filipinos don’t even own cars, nor they had the need to learn how to drive. There is always public transportation available, and is even accessible from your own front door.  There are jeepneys, buses, and tricycles with sidecars for the passengers.  We were always able to go somewhere somehow.

During my first few years in the United States, I lived in Raleigh, North Carolina and then in Norfolk, Virginia.  Mass transit was not as available as in bigger metropolitan areas like New York City and Chicago.  I had my share of riding the buses and taxicabs, and even getting a few rides from generous friends.  This made me realize that learning how to drive and having a car are necessities and not luxuries.  Very soon, thanks to my dear husband, I was driving on minor streets and later on, driving on the interstates.  What a nice feeling it was to be so mobile and so independent!

They say that once you have driven in American streets, you will not want to drive in the Philippines.  Most streets in the Philippines are very busy and congested.  Many busy intersections, even in the big cities, don’t have traffic lights.  There’s a lot of honking and cutting.   Driving in the United States is more enjoyable because of driver courtesy and stricter traffic rules.  But in both situations, road rage is a common part of everyone’s driving world.

            The streets in the Philippines are usually filled with pedestrians walking to and from their many destinations.  They would rather walk than to pay bus fare or jeepney fare.  Most Americans, however, take their cars to the nearby Wal-Mart at any hour of the day or night, or to visit a neighbor who lives a few blocks away.

            Seatbelts and child car seats are unheard of in the Philippines.  Babies and children sit on their parents’ laps and are held by their parents during the entire trip.  This saves the parents from paying the extra fare for the children.  In the United States, there are strict rules that children, and even adults, should have a harness while in a moving vehicle.  I do like it this way better.

            The Philippines is made up of many islands.  Only a very limited few are connected by bridges.  Traveling within the country requires either traveling by ferry boats or by airplanes.  The United States have a terrific interstate system that enables quicker and more convenient ways to travel.  It is much easier to just pack the car, load the kids, and go places!

            With the rising gas prices, as well as the cost of maintaining our cars, who knows if public transportation will be the new lifestyle in the United States.  It will surely be a difficult adjustment after having experienced the independence and the sense of mobility that come in driving our own cars.

                                                                                                Word Count: 512