Tish Vallés shot this video of Mania traffic last night around 9 pm. I was driving. In this video, I unpack my thoughts on motor-scooters in Manila traffic. See the transcript below.
Transcript: Manila, 9 pm - Driving After Rush Hour
Driving in Manila. Traffic is very different than driving in the States. Notice the motor scooters. Nobody rides motorcycles. These are all little scooters, and there are thousands of them, probably tens of thousands.
So the scene you're looking at right now is a main road, 9 pm after rush hour. So it's not as thick traffic-wise as maybe a couple of hours prior to when this video was shot. So the motorcycles are everywhere. They dart in and out like birds. I often think of the driving situation in Manila like flying in a flock of blackbirds. You've seen the murmuration of blackbirds in the fall flying around the trees. Well, it's a lot like that here.
So, in this scene, the cars are moving fine. No problem. And to the right, you see the Jeepney and the guy hanging off the back. So, these little Jeepneys are packed with people. And then that scene that we just left veers off onto an exit which takes the route to where I'm staying with Tish at her house. So you get a sense of the police station and some of the activity. There's the bus stop. This truck right here is interesting.
You see the motorcycles coming out, all those scooters, they're delivering goods all over the place. You can order almost anything you want. Now, here comes the cop, the cop, the traffic cop.
Something has happened. The cop is asking the driver for his license. He must have done something; I don't know what will happen. But now the driver and the cop will sit there and have a conversation. And the driver will give the driver's license. And then we drive on. We're coming under the bridge now, and you can see how the motor scooters just give their signals, and we scoot around the curve.
Now, I'm passing up a hill, and these characters really know how to avoid the cars. And that's what's interesting for me about this. At first glance, it's a sense that you've got to watch out for the motorcycles. Then you realize, no, the motorcycles are the motor scooters are watching out for you.
Notice how when I make the turn, they make the turn as well. And I'm driving, and I like to drive in Manila because it's a little bit of a trick. You saw that motorcycle that just zipped in and out? Well, they do it all the time. They zip, and there's not much thought about who's behind them. Somehow, they already know it. I think they see it.
And then cars pause on the right, which blocks the traffic behind them, and everybody moves over. So it's a bit like either a flock of blackbirds, or maybe it's more like a flowing stream, and we're all leaves flowing down the stream. But regardless of how you want to work with it, there is a sense of engagement that happens here.
You've got to be on your guard. When I'm driving Interstate 40 through Nashville, Tennessee, and then headed into Nashville from Nashville, it's smooth driving. Everybody is in order. Here, you never know what's going to happen. Zip. Something happens now, making a turn into the area where we live, and we're coming. We're coming to a gate.
And as soon as we cross this gate, cross under the gate. There are a couple of guards and traffic changes. It's a lot more serene. It's a lot easier. It's a lot more peaceful if you will. So that's driving in Manila.
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