JEEPNEY JOURNEYS: UNCOVERING MANILA’S INTRICATE TRANSIT SYSTEM
TEAM MEMBERS AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT WORKED ON MAPPING MANILA:
HOLLY KRAMBECK is a transportation specialist with the World Bank, whose work supports infrastructure loans and provides technical assistance in the East Pacific Region
PATRICIA MARIANO was a project development officer at the Philippines DOTr at the time of the project, she is currently a Senior Associate at Vriends and Partners.
HOLLY KRAMBECK is a transportation specialist with the World Bank, whose work supports infrastructure loans and provides technical assistance in the East Pacific Region
PATRICIA MARIANO was a project development officer at the Philippines DOTr at the time of the project, she is currently a Senior Associate at Vriends and Partners.
In 2012, over the course of six months, students in Manila mapped more than 900 Jeepney routes—nearly double the 500 routes officially recognized by Manila’s Land Transport Franchise Bureau (LTFRB). The implications of this data were enormous: for the first time, the city of Manila would know the extent of their transit system and could systematically plan for their transit needs.
Manila’s transport system is largely made up of a network of jeepneys––converted Jeeps, left over from the American military involvement in the Philippines, now owned by owner cooperatives. The vehicles feature long rear carriages, their open windows covered with tarps during the rainy season. Often decorated to match the unique personalities of their owner-operators, the colorful jeepneys navigate the city carrying residents and workers, young and old, female and male. They largely determine their own routes, based on where they see demand, not necessarily on which ridership actually needs them the most.
Manila’s population depends on this system: it has become the life-blood of the city, providing essential mobility to all socio-economic groups. Yet no one knew the true extent of the jeepney’s coverage. That’s why Holly Krambeck, a transportation specialist, together with Patricia Mariano, a member of Manila’s Department of Transportation (DOTr), decided to create the first comprehensive digital dataset on Manila’s transit system. Once in hand, they would use this data to plan the more formalized Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System, which they hoped would upgrade transport throughout the city while connecting with Jeepney operators to provide ‘last mile’ service.
IT STARTED WITH A QUESTION
For Holly, the lightbulb went off when she asked the front desk clerk in her Manila hotel for a transit map. The clerk responded to her request unexpectedly, by suggesting she take a taxi. Without an official map to guide visitors’ travels, the informal system that operates on the winding streets and dense neighborhoods of the city presents an almost insurmountable challenge. For Holly, what began as a simple question—May I see the city’s transit map?—developed into a hunt to uncover the complex and variable lines of movement that crisscross Manila and connect its people.
Holly’s partner in the mapping project, Patricia, knew the transit system firsthand having grown up in the city. Even so, she recalls that finding her way required trial and error, along with information passed word-of-mouth: “I remember being 5 years old and wanting to go to a photo place for a school ID picture….[It was] only a kilometer or two away, but walking that distance was unheard of. Figuring out how to get there felt like a puzzle.” Ultimately, the trip required taking “a trike, then a jeep, then somehow knowing when to tell the driver to stop, because there were no fixed stops.”
Patricia realized that transit didn’t have to be so unpredictable during her travels abroad: “I was traveling alone in a new city where I didn’t speak the language. It was 9 p.m., and somehow I felt more comfortable with the transit system there than in my own country.” This contrast inspired Patricia to pursue solutions that could make transit in Manila more accessible and navigable.
Manila’s transport system is largely made up of a network of jeepneys––converted Jeeps, left over from the American military involvement in the Philippines, now owned by owner cooperatives. The vehicles feature long rear carriages, their open windows covered with tarps during the rainy season. Often decorated to match the unique personalities of their owner-operators, the colorful jeepneys navigate the city carrying residents and workers, young and old, female and male. They largely determine their own routes, based on where they see demand, not necessarily on which ridership actually needs them the most.
Manila’s population depends on this system: it has become the life-blood of the city, providing essential mobility to all socio-economic groups. Yet no one knew the true extent of the jeepney’s coverage. That’s why Holly Krambeck, a transportation specialist, together with Patricia Mariano, a member of Manila’s Department of Transportation (DOTr), decided to create the first comprehensive digital dataset on Manila’s transit system. Once in hand, they would use this data to plan the more formalized Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System, which they hoped would upgrade transport throughout the city while connecting with Jeepney operators to provide ‘last mile’ service.
IT STARTED WITH A QUESTION
For Holly, the lightbulb went off when she asked the front desk clerk in her Manila hotel for a transit map. The clerk responded to her request unexpectedly, by suggesting she take a taxi. Without an official map to guide visitors’ travels, the informal system that operates on the winding streets and dense neighborhoods of the city presents an almost insurmountable challenge. For Holly, what began as a simple question—May I see the city’s transit map?—developed into a hunt to uncover the complex and variable lines of movement that crisscross Manila and connect its people.
Holly’s partner in the mapping project, Patricia, knew the transit system firsthand having grown up in the city. Even so, she recalls that finding her way required trial and error, along with information passed word-of-mouth: “I remember being 5 years old and wanting to go to a photo place for a school ID picture….[It was] only a kilometer or two away, but walking that distance was unheard of. Figuring out how to get there felt like a puzzle.” Ultimately, the trip required taking “a trike, then a jeep, then somehow knowing when to tell the driver to stop, because there were no fixed stops.”
Patricia realized that transit didn’t have to be so unpredictable during her travels abroad: “I was traveling alone in a new city where I didn’t speak the language. It was 9 p.m., and somehow I felt more comfortable with the transit system there than in my own country.” This contrast inspired Patricia to pursue solutions that could make transit in Manila more accessible and navigable.
MAPPING THE GAPS
The fundamental issue, the team quickly realized, was not the absence of transport data––it was its veracity and completeness. Tabular data existed for a disparate collection of routes, but their status was unknown. Official government data was limited and likely out of date. They were also largely paper-based, not digital, making planning and monitoring difficult.
Complicating the team’s efforts to map Manila’s transit system were certain irregular aspects of the jeepneys’ operation––for example, what constitutes a “stop.” “Because these are flagged-down vehicles, there are no predetermined stops.” Patricia explains. In addition, the jeepney’s routes were not coordinated. Because the system is franchise-based, with operators choosing routes based on profitability, it’s rife with inefficiencies.
To begin this work, the team partnered with transport consulting firm ITP and developer Kevin Webb to build an open-source mobile mapping application. This app was specifically designed for the use of students at the University of the Philippines, who were recruited to conduct field research. The app allowed students to track jeepney and bus routes using GPS, to log passenger boarding and alighting points, and to document route variations and informal stops. Importantly, the data collection tool documented transit operations as they actually existed, on the ground. To help define stops and schedules for future system development, the students also recorded waypoints at regular intervals along the routes. Together, they created the first comprehensive dataset of Manila’s public transport network.
Many of the routes the students mapped were not officially sanctioned by the government. These “colorum,” or unauthorized, routes, traversed by unauthorized vehicles, existed however because they filled critical gaps in the transit system. Historically, government agencies sometimes took action against colorum routes, impounding vehicles and leaving commuters stranded. Mapping and publishing data on these routes thus posed a problem: it had the potential to either support commuters’ needs or disrupt their daily lives, depending on how the government responded.
Ultimately, the government made a critical decision. They agreed to publish the complete dataset. This was a bold move that demonstrated a commitment to understanding and improving transit, rather than merely enforcing regulations that did not reflect real commuter needs.
A LIVING MAP
Unlike other cities that have documented their informal transit networks with printed maps, Manila made a deliberate decision to keep things digital. Its reasoning was twofold: One, the network was constantly shifting, with drivers adjusting routes based on congestion, demand, and road conditions, meaning that any printed map would quickly become obsolete. And two, since nearly half the mapped routes were colorum (and therefore functioned outside the government’s formal regulatory framework), sanctioning an official map by publishing one was not in the DOTr’s best interests.
Instead, the project focused on creating a dynamic, digital dataset that was adaptable and open source, allowing planners and developers to work with real-time transit patterns. The emphasis was on usability over permanence, ensuring the data could inform both policy decisions and everyday commuting needs.
Asked about her proudest moment on the project, Holly immediately responds, “The hackathon.” Team members invited local developers to create trip-planning apps using its newly mapped data, and more than 450 developers accepted. The resulting hackathon, which was hosted in a vast space packed to “standing room only,” represents the moment when the project’s impact became tangible. The large turnout was a testament to the government’s successful publicity efforts, as well as those of the team, which partnered with local technology influencer Junid to spread the word. Even the Secretary of Transport attended, taking the stage to proudly present the dataset.
The hackathon led to the creation of Sakay.ph, an app that still manages and updates Manila’s transit data today. “The fact that Sakay.ph continues to be used today and was not overtaken by Google or Waze says a lot about how useful this data was,” Holly reflects. The app demonstrates the power of data, innovation, and collaboration in transforming urban transit systems.
BLUEPRINTS FOR AN UNWRITTEN FUTURE
At the time when Holly and Patricia were finishing up their work in Manila, it was estimated that at least 90% of the world’s largest cities did not have fully mapped transit systems that included informal or popular transport. Learning this, Holly decided to do something to help. In her role as Transport Specialist for the World Bank, she developed a seven-module training program designed to educate transportation stakeholders on everything from locating technology specialists and recruiting volunteers to standardizing transit data in formats such as General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) . The ongoing popularity of this online course indicates a genuine interest in––and need for––standardized data on informal transit systems.
The mapping of Manila’s informal transit network succeeded in many ways; not the least of which, by sparking broader conversations about transparency, policy reform, and government openness to urban mobility solutions, formal or otherwise. The project’s legacy both in its vision and its educational outreach lives on through the continued use of GTFS mapping for informal transit, as well as in the growing global movement to integrate informal transit into official urban planning.
The fundamental issue, the team quickly realized, was not the absence of transport data––it was its veracity and completeness. Tabular data existed for a disparate collection of routes, but their status was unknown. Official government data was limited and likely out of date. They were also largely paper-based, not digital, making planning and monitoring difficult.
Complicating the team’s efforts to map Manila’s transit system were certain irregular aspects of the jeepneys’ operation––for example, what constitutes a “stop.” “Because these are flagged-down vehicles, there are no predetermined stops.” Patricia explains. In addition, the jeepney’s routes were not coordinated. Because the system is franchise-based, with operators choosing routes based on profitability, it’s rife with inefficiencies.
To begin this work, the team partnered with transport consulting firm ITP and developer Kevin Webb to build an open-source mobile mapping application. This app was specifically designed for the use of students at the University of the Philippines, who were recruited to conduct field research. The app allowed students to track jeepney and bus routes using GPS, to log passenger boarding and alighting points, and to document route variations and informal stops. Importantly, the data collection tool documented transit operations as they actually existed, on the ground. To help define stops and schedules for future system development, the students also recorded waypoints at regular intervals along the routes. Together, they created the first comprehensive dataset of Manila’s public transport network.
Many of the routes the students mapped were not officially sanctioned by the government. These “colorum,” or unauthorized, routes, traversed by unauthorized vehicles, existed however because they filled critical gaps in the transit system. Historically, government agencies sometimes took action against colorum routes, impounding vehicles and leaving commuters stranded. Mapping and publishing data on these routes thus posed a problem: it had the potential to either support commuters’ needs or disrupt their daily lives, depending on how the government responded.
Ultimately, the government made a critical decision. They agreed to publish the complete dataset. This was a bold move that demonstrated a commitment to understanding and improving transit, rather than merely enforcing regulations that did not reflect real commuter needs.
A LIVING MAP
Unlike other cities that have documented their informal transit networks with printed maps, Manila made a deliberate decision to keep things digital. Its reasoning was twofold: One, the network was constantly shifting, with drivers adjusting routes based on congestion, demand, and road conditions, meaning that any printed map would quickly become obsolete. And two, since nearly half the mapped routes were colorum (and therefore functioned outside the government’s formal regulatory framework), sanctioning an official map by publishing one was not in the DOTr’s best interests.
Instead, the project focused on creating a dynamic, digital dataset that was adaptable and open source, allowing planners and developers to work with real-time transit patterns. The emphasis was on usability over permanence, ensuring the data could inform both policy decisions and everyday commuting needs.
Asked about her proudest moment on the project, Holly immediately responds, “The hackathon.” Team members invited local developers to create trip-planning apps using its newly mapped data, and more than 450 developers accepted. The resulting hackathon, which was hosted in a vast space packed to “standing room only,” represents the moment when the project’s impact became tangible. The large turnout was a testament to the government’s successful publicity efforts, as well as those of the team, which partnered with local technology influencer Junid to spread the word. Even the Secretary of Transport attended, taking the stage to proudly present the dataset.
The hackathon led to the creation of Sakay.ph, an app that still manages and updates Manila’s transit data today. “The fact that Sakay.ph continues to be used today and was not overtaken by Google or Waze says a lot about how useful this data was,” Holly reflects. The app demonstrates the power of data, innovation, and collaboration in transforming urban transit systems.
BLUEPRINTS FOR AN UNWRITTEN FUTURE
At the time when Holly and Patricia were finishing up their work in Manila, it was estimated that at least 90% of the world’s largest cities did not have fully mapped transit systems that included informal or popular transport. Learning this, Holly decided to do something to help. In her role as Transport Specialist for the World Bank, she developed a seven-module training program designed to educate transportation stakeholders on everything from locating technology specialists and recruiting volunteers to standardizing transit data in formats such as General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) . The ongoing popularity of this online course indicates a genuine interest in––and need for––standardized data on informal transit systems.
The mapping of Manila’s informal transit network succeeded in many ways; not the least of which, by sparking broader conversations about transparency, policy reform, and government openness to urban mobility solutions, formal or otherwise. The project’s legacy both in its vision and its educational outreach lives on through the continued use of GTFS mapping for informal transit, as well as in the growing global movement to integrate informal transit into official urban planning.