BUSES have a big contribution to the increase on the number of the tourists in the city, an officer of the Transportation Regulation of the Land Transportation Office said.
Elmer Mendoza Jr. said bus companies are finding and innovating faster routes and comfortable trips for the passengers.
Among the bus companies here in Baguio which offers daily trips to Pasay and Cubao is the Genesis Transport Service, Inc. that offers a faster trip compared to others.
To shorten trips to Manila, Genesis has trips which pass through the newly established Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.
According to Ronnie Panganiban, inspector of Genesis in Baguio, “the trip to Manila will only take six and a half hour compared to our old route through Mabalacat [Pampanga] which takes seven hours.”
The Genesis also has shorter trips for Dagupan, Pangasinan.
Victory Liner, Inc., like Genesis, offers daily trips to Pasay and Cubao in their station in Barangay PNR.
The company offers a deluxe bus trip which reduces the seven hour trip to five hours and offers more comfort than their regular air conditioned buses.
According to Juan Banac, dispatcher of Victory Liner, Inc. in Baguio, “[buses on these trips] are non-stop, no stop-over, no picking of passengers along the way. So the trip will be faster. The passengers will be amazed because they have arrived to their destination after they wake up from a long journey.”
The deluxe buses also have comfort rooms and the passengers can choose to seat with a companion or alone in the one-seater.
“It is practical because one can allot the saved travel time to do other important things,” said Lucila Fronda, a University of the Philippines Baguio student.