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Angkas is now back in the streets after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) banned their operation late last year. Now they're back but not as a human transport service but as a parcel delivery service. So, let's all welcome Angkas Padala ! Their mobile app was also updated to match the new service offering. Just go to the your App Store and Google Play to update. How Much Does it Cost to Deliver? For Manila , the base price is 50 Pesos for the first two kilometers, and 10 Pesos per succeeding kilometer . Pricing may vary based on demand.  For Cebu , the flag down price is 20 Pesos and 15 Pesos  per kilometer for the first 8 kilometer, and 20 pesos per kilometer beyond that .  Weight and size should not exceed 10 kilograms and 43cm x 38cm x 24cm dimensions respectively. All items must be unsealed and inspected by the biker before delivery. Prohibited items includes cash, precious stones, jewelry, banderol...

The OAG, an air travel intelligence company based in United Kingdom, in its annual report listed Cebu Pacific and AirAsia Philippines as some of the world's least punctual airline. Garnering only 57.6% and 58% OTP respectively, the two airlines based here in the Philippines was among the worst in the world. OTP (on time performance) refers to flights that arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time. Image by  Jyi1693 at en.wikipedia [ CC BY-SA 3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons Punctuality Culture On the other hand, some of the world's most punctual airlines are in Japan, with Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways taking the top two spots with 85.27 amd 83.81% OTP. This result may not be surprising when you consider their culture. Japan is well known for being a process oriented and strict in punctuality country. For instance, late last year, Japan’s Tsukuba Express, a train that connects Tokyo and Tsukuba issued an apology for a train that departed the station 20 secon...

I literally saved about 50% of my original fare in UBER by doing this simple trick. And maybe, most of the time you can do this. The trick is simply to SCHEDULE your trip. Here's a photo demonstrating what I mean. In the left photo, I scheduled a trip from the airport and as you can see, because of the demand, my fare ended up at 539 Pesos. Now, when I postpone my trip just about 30 mins or even less than that, I was able to bring down the fares to 276 Pesos. That's a pretty significant amount, isn't it? I don't know if it works on all locations but as for me, booking here in Cebu City, I can really see this significant drop. But I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be so in other cities. One may say though that the photo above shows that there's a surge in the left photo and none in the right. Yes that's true but even if there's no surge, the difference is pretty significant as well. Why not try and see it for yourself? Ride Sharing ...

Grab announces the arrival of Grab Car 6-Seater service in Cebu! Previously only available in Metro Manila, today, the service expands its coverage to Cebu. And as indicated by its name, this service is good for up to a maximum of six passengers.  Of course, this would be a little bit more expensive than the regular Grab Car service. Please see the table below to see how does it compare with other grab services. Grab Taxi Grab Car Grab Car 6-Seater Booking Fee 10 Flag Down Rate 30 Base Fare 45 60 Waiting time (Per 90 sec) 3.5 Per Minute 2 2 Succeeding KM 3.5 Per Km 12 18 Notes:  - Rates in Pesos.  - Except for Grab Taxi, rates changes depending on demand (e.g. heavy traffic or rush hour) The service is now available on all Grab apps. Once it detected that you're in Cebu, the feature will appear as an additional option alongside Grab Taxi and Grab Car. (see image above) FAQs Answered Grab also released...

A few months ago, Grab released the feature enabling passengers to add extra stops to their Grab Car rides. This feature worked so great I had to use it several times, mostly to drop friends to their houses before going home. As you may have know, to use the feature, you just tap the "+" button in the destination box to add the an extra stop. Recently though, I haven't been using that feature and at the same time, the Grab app has been updated several times. Early this week though, I need to use it but to my surprise, I can't find it. Tapping the "+" button allows you to add extra stop to your Grab Car journey.

If you haven't noticed yet, the streets of Cebu is quickly being dominated by the increasingly ubiquitous motorbike drivers with blue shirt and helmet. Equipped with shiny new motorbikes and helmets, this new road "character" is the modernized "habal-habal", motorbike taxis that can take you basically anywhere you want in Cebu and Mactan islands. This is the famous Angkas, the Uber and Grab version of motorcycles. Angkas driver on his motorbike with rain cover. Image by amagnawa.

First and foremost, this article is not intended to compare Uber with GrabTaxi, GrabCar, EasyTaxi etc. I just want to share my experience with Uber here in Cebu City. Uber Technologies started operating here in Cebu in the beginning of December last year. I'm one of the early adopters. One reason is that I want to see how good it is in person. I downloaded the app, registered and viola! I'm ready to roll.

I first heard of this concept in Cebu City. At first, I don't really understand how it works. Now the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) has released a video of the result of a comprehensive of the effectiveness of a BRT system in providing an efficient, relatively low-cost transportation system. Here's the video. To compliment the economic progress of he Philippines, we desperately need an efficient transport system. As you can see in the above video, Metro Manila traffic is worsening year-after-year. The BRT system can be the solution we need now.

The following fare rates will take its effect next year after the Land Transportation and Franchising Board (LTFRB) approved the petition to increase the fare for Taxis in Metro Manila.                                Image via Wikipedia The flag-down rate will be increased to 40 pesos from the current 30 pesos The rate for the succeeding 250 meters will be increased to 3.50 pesos from the current 2.50 pesos The above changes will take effect sometime in the middle of January, 15 days after its official publication in the newspaper.