At long last, #UberIsBack! After weeks of testing our luck on the streets, Uber is once again here to pick up commuters from wherever they are in the metro and drive them safely to their destination.

It’s a valuable service for commuters who simply want to reach their school, office, appointment, or home. However, as we learned over the recent weeks, knowing different ways to get to your destination is an essential life skill for responsible adults.

Here are some tips and tricks to help make your daily commute a breeze, via Uber or otherwise.

1. Share a ride with family and friends

It’s a classic commuting life hack: gather your nearby friends, neighbors, or officemates to ride together! Carpooling helps motorists save on fuel or fare. It also lessens the vehicles on the road and the city’s carbon footprint.

2. Take a Point-to-Point (P2P) bus

If you work in Makati, Ortigas, or BGC, we bet you’ve already tried or at least heard of the P2P bus. These buses travel back and forth their pick-up and drop-off points without making any stops in between. To make the P2P bus even more convenient, they also offer cashless payments via beep! Maya offers a card variant with a built-in beep wallet, so you can carry just one nifty card for your cashless payments. Maya cards with beep are available at select SM and Robinsons Business Centers.

3. Make a commute playlist

Listen to your favorite artist or discover new tunes via music streaming apps like Spotify. Another option is to watch your Netflix or iflix playlist on mobile. Just be sure to stay alert to your surroundings or you might miss your stop!

4. Know your route

Avoid relying on the driver to figure out your route. Plan ahead using navigation apps like Waze, Google Maps, or Sakay.ph if you’re commuting. This way you can choose the best route, track where you’re going, and save precious time.

5. Be productive

Don’t let the daily traffic stop you from maximizing your time. You can still read up, respond to simple emails, listen to podcasts or audio books, or write your to-do list for the day.

6. Dress for comfort

Save your heels and corporate suit for the office and brace yourself for the crowd, heat, or rain. With our unpredictable weather, it always helps to bring an umbrella. To stay fresh in the morning, bring your make up kit and perfume. It also helps to keep an extra set of clothes in the office for emergencies.

7. Get a headstart

Wake up 30 minutes earlier and see how a few minutes can make a world’s difference in traffic congestion. It’s well worth the compromise if it means having clearer roads to jumpstart a productive day.

8. If you can, walk or bike to work

If you’re just a few kilometers away from the office, if the weather is cooperative, and especially if cars are on a slow crawl, consider biking or walking to/from work. It saves you time and lets you squeeze in a good workout to your daily routine.

9. Work from home

Under certain circumstances like a typhoon, transport strike, or road closure, see if you could be more productive working offsite. This would also depend on the nature of your work or if your physical presence in the office would not affect your work.

10. Lastly, mind your manners

It would benefit all commuters if everyone just kept their cool and minded their manners on the road. Follow road rules and be courteous to fellow passengers. Remember that everyone’s time is just as important as yours.

We hope this list helps and may the odds be ever in your favor on the road! Care to share other commuting tips? Talk to us via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram via @mayaiseverything.