From Habal-habal to Boda-Boda - Taxis on two wheels

As travelers, we have all experienced claustrophobia, and the worst example of it is perhaps being crammed in a moving vehicle with half the village population of humans, children, livestock, fish and vegetables. It's one thing to experience this aboard a bus or a truck, or even a taxicab full to the gills with people, but ever tried it on a motorbike taxi?

Yes, a motorbike taxi isn't always a ride for two. There’s a joy in it, no doubt, for the inveterate solo wanderer, but for most people in many parts of the world, these undignified modes of public transport are ways of life. They are cheap and often the only option available to them.

A motorcycle that can carry 10 passengers sounds uncanny but in the Philippines, such two-wheeled vehicles, known as Habal-Habal, routinely carry up to that many passengers along with their baggage. They are most common in remote villages that have rough and narrow roads. The ride is often used by farmers taking their goods to market.

Habal-Habal is a highly improvised two-wheeled single motorcycle that carries way beyond its passenger capacity. Since it is used as public transportation, especially in areas where roads are narrow and terrain is steep and rough, it could possibly carry up to six passengers, at the least. This motorcycle wooden plank extensions across the seat for extra seating.

Watch the video and feel the thrill.

Motorcycle taxis of this kind are not limited to the Philippines, though, and find a parallel elsewhere in the world, too. In India, for instance, motorcycle taxis are common in Goa and date back to the 1970s and the drivers are known by the fancy name of pilots.  Fares are fixed in advance and there is no metering. In big Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, motorbike taxis are a cheap and common mode of transport. In Cambodia, they are known as motodups and are very common as they negotiate busy streets. In Vietnam, where they are known as  xe ôm, motorcycle taxis are faster than buses in terms of speed and agility. And they are perhaps the easiest mode of public transport to wave down. In Indonesia, where they are known as ojek, motorcycle taxis are modified and fabricated from Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki motorcycles, though some locally-made models are also common. Thailand’s motorcycle taxis are instantly recognizable as the drivers wear orange vests. The law requires that all drivers carry a passenger helmet, but you can often see this law being flouted. Of course, other small-scale scams involving meter-tampering are common and passengers usually take them in their stride.

Brazil has seen motorcycle taxis in operation since 1994 while in Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom they are found in a few places. In East Africa, motorcycle taxis known as boda-boda (sometimes the extra boda is dispensed with) are common on the Kenya-Uganda border. In Uganda alone, nearly 90,000 people were employed as boda drivers. Nigeria, on the other hand, has about 3 million motorcycle taxis known as okadas. New laws prevent drivers from ferrying pregnant women or children. In 2005, Islamist groups attempted to enforce a ban on women riding motorcycle taxis in Lagos.

In Pakistan's major cities of Lahore and Karachi, heavily decorated motorcycle taxis known as Chingchees are a cheap and easy (not to mention noisy and polluting) way to get around. What's with the curious name, you ask? It's just a corruption of Qingqi, the Chinese company that makes these contraptions.

Click through to enjoy more images of motorcycle taxis from around the world.

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