Valencia Valencia-Dumaguete transport after 9pm price gouging or just the market?

I can see where you would get sticker shock, one way 12p and the orher way 200p but now the ordeal is past and you know so you can plan your visits to Valencia accordingly. There is not alot to see at night so I would not be overly burdened by having to leave before dark.

 

A bit of Philippine general travel advice from one who has done a LOT of traveling here, when visiting smaller towns, always look at the return trip. For instance, take Sibulan and Bacong. Both are on the national hiway, there will be modes of public transport even very late at night. However, Valencia is the end of the line. There is NOTHING past Valencia except the mountain. Filipinos living here go TO Duma in the morning, and return TO Valencia in the evening. There are no Filipinos lining up in Valencia to go to Duma past 7 p.m. (or even past 4 p.m.). Therefore, normal modes of mass transit are shut down by 7 p.m. You are then at the mercy of those who will take advantage, or who do not normally service the route. If there are not going to be Filipinos lined up to go somewhere, the mass transit system will not usually be in effect. No mass transit = no economical transportation!

It applies most everywhere. In order for the trike drivers to earn enough to make the Val/Duma trip worth while, they have to take in P100+. Whether they get it from one person, or ten persons, does not matter, their cost is pretty much the same. They are not ripping you off, they are trying to earn enough to make the trip worth while. If you want to go, and you are the only one going, you best be willing to pay the price of fuel.

As mentioned before, if the bus is empty and you want the bus to go, it will go. Simply pay the fare for all the empty seats, and it will go. The trikes are no different. Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on their part, and you cannot expect them to operate at a loss because you did not do your homework.

Larry

 

Agreed , correct me if I am wrong , but ceres does not travel north from duma after 9;30 or 10 pm , I can remember being at a party in Valencia about 6 years ago , and not knowing that , my good friend (Filipino) also told us we would struggle to get transport to duma from Valencia , we had to get home to tanjay , so we bundled into his pajero at 9;15 and made haste to the national hwy , near the airport , could see the last north bus in front of us , proceeded to flash high beam in his rear view , he pulled over and we jumped on , Planning and knowledge of local transport is integral if you don't want any inconvenient surprises.

Tony

 

In retrospect I overreacted to the sticker shock when I offered 25 pesos (though did not make a scene in front of the driver - my GF just told the driver "no thanks", so we didn't end up making anyone look bad except for the lowball offer). We ended up going on a habal-habal for 75 pesos. I've paid skin-tax so many times in the past that I think I'm hypersensitive to it and now tend to see it even if it is not there. Thanks for the input and the education on trike economics.

 

I think we all went through quite a learning stage when we first came here, and have all been through very similar situations and thought processes. After so many times of getting the long nose tax, the tax man seems to appear out of nowhere. Your misunderstandings are understandable.



Larry

 

DumagueteJohn, I think you have created a new technical word "trikenomics"!

 

good catch!