In this photo taken on January 11, 2016, a major thoroughfare is clogged with traffic as an overhead train passes by in Manila. Jay Directo, Agence France-Presse
MANILA - Three in 10 Filipinos said their commute is the worst part of their day, an online survey commissioned by Ford Motor Company showed.
The same survey, which aimed to study Filipinos’ perceptions about the state of their commute, also revealed that 42 percent of respondents said their commute was worse than a year ago.
The two most common reasons cited for the decline in the quality of Filipinos' daily commute are more traffic congestion and increasingly crowded public transportation.
The survey also showed that 37 percent said the quality of their commute remained the same while 21 percent said their commute improved over the last year.
The common reasons cited for the improvement was better public transportation and the perception that services are less crowded, more comfortable and more convenient.
A majority of Filipino commuters, or 60 percent, also said their commutes are getting more expensive while only 16 percent reported declining costs. Twenty-three percent said costs were unchanged over the last year.
The common reasons cited for the increased cost of commuting were price increases for public transportation and toll roads; fuel prices; and choosing taxis, taxi-hailing apps, and car-sharing services over cheaper options.
“As the Philippine economy continues to thrive and the people remain to be one of the world’s most confident consumers, challenges like these are bound to happen,” said Joseph Ayllon, assistant vice president for communications at Ford Philippines.
“Ford recognizes these issues and we are doing what we can to address them through ways that are not only convenient, but also smart," he added.
The online survey was conducted by GlobalWebIndex on behalf of Ford Motor Company early this year. The survey asked a total of 12,619 consumers across 12 markets, 1,052 of which came from the Philippines.