How it began
The jeepney appeared in Manila after World War II. When American troops began to leave the Philippines, hundreds of surplus Willys jeeps were sold or given to Filipinos, who altered them locally to carry passengers. A photograph in the Harry S. Truman Library dated June 23, 1946 shows a military jeep that had been extended for that purpose. The name may join jeep with jitney, an older word for a shared taxi, though a writer who searched 1940s sources found no document that states this outright. No single inventor is credited.
Before it existed
From the American colonial period, Manila had shared taxis known as auto calesas, or AC for short, named after the horse-drawn calesas of the city. They were also called jitneys or baby buses and were in use by the mid-1930s. Most of these vehicles were destroyed in World War II. The Battle of Manila in 1945 also wrecked the city's tranvia streetcars and part of its rail system, leaving a need for cheap transport.
How it works
Builders took the front portion of a jeep and attached a long passenger cab behind it, with two benches facing each other along the sides. Later jeepneys used the fronts of other cars and trucks in the same way. In assembly-built units, notably those of Sarao Motors and Francisco Motors, capacity reached fourteen to eighteen passengers including two in front. Designs vary across the country, and many still copy the frontage of the wartime jeep.
Who pushed back
The government's Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program, launched in 2018, aims to replace traditional jeepneys with units that meet newer safety and emission standards. Drivers and operators have objected to the cost: a traditional jeepney was priced at 250,000 to 700,000 pesos, while operators cited up to 2 million pesos for a modern unit. Jeepney groups went on strike in March 2023 against a consolidation deadline, which was then extended.
Where it stands today
Almost 80 years after it first appeared, the jeepney is still in use across the Philippines. By 2020 there were 580 modernized units on the streets of Metro Manila and more than 27,600 jeepneys authorized for over 1,000 routes nationwide, according to a congressional policy brief cited by Filipeanut. A modernized jeepney is electric or has a cleaner engine and is accessible to wheelchair users and the elderly.
