Comparing conventional public transport to ride-hailing apps: A snapshot of user experiences from Metro Manila

Abstract

Ride apps offer alternative and controversial solutions to commuters in Manila, a Southeast Asian megacity characterized by inadequacies in transport infrastructure and law enforcement capabilities. In the literature, there is scarce empirical analysis of how ride-hailing technologies compare with pre-existing conventional transport systems from the perspective of the users of the technologies. To address this gap, this paper employs in-depth semi-structured interviews with respondents from Manila to examine the issues encountered by users of the conventional transport systems and how they perceive these in comparison to their experiences with ride-hailing technologies. These comparison-driven narratives are important, as they can inform subsequent studies on what motivates the patterns of use and attitudes toward pre-existing systems and new technology-driven entrants. The analysis presented in this paper is a provisional snapshot of a work in progress on the phenomenon of ridehailing apps operating in Southeast Asian megacities. Keywords—public transportation, urban mobility, ridehailing apps, Manila transportation