MANILA, Philippines—Ernani Reyes has been selling gift wrapping and school supplies in his store in Guadalupe, Makati City, for about 10 years now.

Several times a week, he usually goes to that fabled Manila shopper’s haunt—Divisoria market—to buy more merchandise.

Since last year, Reyes has been taking the Pasig River ferry that makes his weekly excursions to Metro Manila’s bargain district faster and more convenient.

From Guadalupe Nuevo in Makati City where he lives, Reyes takes a short walk to the ferry station. On a fare of P45, the boat takes him to the Escolta station where he can either board a jeepney or pedicab to reach his destination.

Reyes says he’s thankful that he no longer has to put up with heavy traffic on his visits to Divisoria. Before he started taking the ferry, he and his wife had to get on several jeepneys to reach Manila. On their way back, they usually took a taxi into which they would stuff all the items they bought. The cab fare on the meter was P100.

These days, Reyes loads all his merchandise into the boat after informing the ferry operator in advance.

Marisa Alivan, another frequent shopper at Divisoria, has also become a regular passenger of the river transport service.

The dressmaker from Taguig City told Inquirer that she buys her fabrics from the shopping district once or twice a week.

From the Food Terminal (FTI) in Taguig City, she heads for Guadalupe in Makati City or any of the ferry stations in Pasig City (Kalawaan, Bambang or San Joaquin) on her way to Divisoria.

“The ferry is more convenient for us. It’s a more relaxed way to travel,” said Alivan.

Micheal Acosta, operations manager of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC), told the Inquirer that traders buying their merchandise from Divisoria compose the bulk of the river ferry’s daily riders.

During the holiday season last year, the number of ferry passengers shot up to 4,000 a day from an average of about 1,000 to 1,200. The rise was due to the number of people who went to Divisoria to do their Christmas shopping.

The PRRC also expects an increase in ridership this December. Reyes, for example, said that he would need to go to Divisoria four times a week starting this November to stock up on his goods in anticipation of the influx of shoppers come Christmas time.

Acosta added that the river transport system is also very useful to students. One of their stations, in fact, is located near the Polytechnic University of the Philippines campus in Sta. Mesa.

The Quiapo station, on the other hand, services students in the University Belt area, including Mendiola and Quiapo. The station in Quezon Bridge in Manila meanwhile caters to students of universities in Intramuros and Taft Avenue.

Acosta said that after gasoline prices and transport fares went up this year, the number of their student passengers rose by 40%.

Part of this can also be attributed to the discount the PRRC gives to students who pay a flat rate of P20. Normally, passengers pay from P25 to P45 depending on how far they have to go.

The (revitalized) Pasig river ferry service was officially launched on Feb. 14, 2007. After providing free rides for two weeks and a short breather for evaluation, it became fully operational on March 16, 2007.

A fleet of five boats currently services the ferry route that stretches from Plaza Mexico in Intramuros, Manila, to Barangay Kalawaan Sur in Pasig City.

Acosta said a sixth boat is on standby should there be a further increase in ridership.

According to him, the fleet of boats can actually accommodate up to 5,000 riders a day when demand picks up.

Right now, there is an interval of as much as one and a half hours in the arrival of the boats during the weekdays and as long as two hours on holidays and weekends.

Ang mahirap lang minsan, pagdating mo doon, wala pang ferry agad. Maghihintay ka pa (Sometimes, however, you get to the station and the boat isn’t there yet. You have to wait a while),” said Alivan.

Acosta said the PRRC and its private sector partner, Nautical Transportation Services, are already testing additional stations for its Marikina route to accommodate more passengers from that area, with the number of riders increasing every month.

The additional route will be operational by the end of the year, he said.

Eventually the river ferry system will extend up to the mouth of Laguna Bay to accommodate riders from Napindan in Taguig.

“The ultimate vision is to connect Manila Bay to Laguna Bay to decongest Southern Luzon commuter traffic,” said Acosta.