Event:Para po Project by Wiki Advocates Philippines
Para po! Visualizing the Transit Arteries of Naga City
[edit]The Para po! project aims to document the public transport lines of Naga City and neighboring municipalities by photographing local public utility vehicles, uploading the images to Wikimedia Commons, and transforming that data into structured Wikidata items. This initiative creates an open-source, machine-readable digital map of local transit networks that can easily be replicated by other cities.
Rationale
[edit]While major airports, like NAIA (Q86446) or Naga Airport (Q1528942), have robust Wikidata items, the local terminals where everyday citizens actually catch a ride are practically invisible. Wikidata fails completely when it comes to the backbone of Philippine transit: jeepneys and UV Express.
The Wikidata Query Service only retrieves one item related to the public transport route in the Philippines: https://w.wiki/Qj7Z
The Para po! project aims to address this gap starting at the heart of the Bicol Region, Naga City.
Objectives
[edit]- Collect field photographs of Naga City's public transport lines for Wikimedia Commons.
- Create Wikidata items for each route based on the collected data.
- Provide a replicable model for documenting underrepresented transport systems in similar cities.
“Para po!”
[edit]“Para po” is a commuter phrase that passengers call out to the driver a few seconds before their drop-off point. It roughly translates to, ”Stop, please.”
Project Implementation
[edit]This project will be implemented in two phases: intra-city and inter-city.
- The intra-city edition will cover jeepney routes inside the city detailed in the City Ordinance no. 2025 - 070.
- The inter-city edition will cover public transport routes departing from the city, starting at the city’s transport terminals.
Phase 1: Intra-city Edition
[edit]Timeline: June 16 - 18, 2026
Geographic Scope: Core downtown loops completely inside Naga City limits
Workflow
[edit]- Volunteers position themselves at known stops/unloading zones of the routes and take photos of public utility vehicles showing their assigned routes.
- Volunteers upload the photos taken to Wikimedia Commons Campaign:Para po.
- Create Wikidata items for the transport routes.
- Wikidata statements
| ID | Property Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
P31
|
instance of | public transport route (Q125209036) |
P3438
|
vehicle normally used | type of vehicle (bus, jeepney, van, etc.) (Q…) |
P17
|
country | Philippines (Q928) |
P131
|
located in the administrative territorial entity | Naga (Q2207) |
P559
|
terminus | route end points (Q…) |
P2825
|
via | streets the vehicle drives on (Q…) |
P18
|
image | image relevant to route |
Phase 2: Inter-city Edition
[edit]Timeline: August 2026
Geographic Scope: Regional transport lines with terminals inside Naga City
The workflow for phase 2 will depend on the result of the first phase of the project