CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The first-ever double-decker buses in Northern Mindanao are now operating, with the transport firm that brought them giving assurance that the units are safe even in the treacherous and accident-prone roads of Bukidnon province.
“I think the features of these double-decker buses are much safer,” said Serjohn Panis, Pabama Tours Transport Bukidnon (Pabama) general manager, the company that brought the unique buses to Mindanao.
“We assure our passengers that they’re safe riding our buses,” Panis said.
The two Pabama double-decker buses began plying the Cagayan de Oro-Kibawe, Bukidnon route on Tuesday after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-10 (LTFRB-10) granted the company franchise through a replacement policy.
Compared to other bus companies operating in the region, Pabama is a small player in Northern Mindanao’s mass transport industry, with only about 50 units in operation. It has, however, slowly gained a large following after it rolled out state-of-the-art buses last year.
Aminoden Guro, LTFRB-10 regional director, said that since there is a moratorium on new franchises, the agency granted Pabama the document for its new buses by substituting the franchise of the company’s older buses with the new ones.
Guro said the introduction of the double-decker buses is part of the public utility vehicle modernization program of the government, aside from it being the region’s pride as the first of its kind in the country.
The double-decker bus has a 74-passenger seating capacity and is equipped with amenities found on first-classes buses, such as a wi-fi connection, a built-in tablet computer in every seat, cup holder, a toilet, among others.
The bus also has a global positioning system, a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera, speed limiter, and voice sensor.
Jonathan Jantay, sales and marketing officer of Dura Bus, the firm that supplied the double-deckers to Pabama, said all the bus’s parts are made in Germany, United Kingdom and the United States, but were assembled in China.
Costing P16 million per unit, the 420-horsepower-engine, Euro 5-compliant, double-decker bus has a tri-axle that can maneuver Bukidnon’s slopes with ease, especially in the zigzagging Mangima road in Manolo Fortich, Jantay said.
Jantay added the double-deckers will have no problem traversing the mountain passages as it has withstood the high-altitude roads in the South American countries of Chile and Ecuador.
Guro said LTFRB green-lighted the entry of the double-deckers in the region based on numerous road tests made in Metro Manila, Baguio and Antipolo before these were brought here.
Pabama’s application for a minimal fare increase has also been approved by the LTFRB since the double-deckers are considered as “premium buses,” in that they offer first-class amenities that are advantageous and convenient to the riding public.
“These buses are very welcome here as part of the government’s modernization program, although there is a memorandum order that primary or premium buses (like the Pabama double-decker buses) can increase the regular fare by at least 25 percent, which is equivalent to P2.50,” Guro said.
Guro said the regular fare for double-decker buses plying to and from Kibawe is P378 and the privilege fare is P302, based on the LTFRB memorandum circular that categorized fares for premium or premiere, super deluxe, deluxe and regular or non-aircon buses.
Panis said they are planning on adding more double-decker units in the future. (Jigger Jerusalem/PNA)
