The new Cebu North Bus Terminal at the outdoor parking lot of SM City Cebu is opened on Monday morning, October 12, 2020. CDN Digital photo | Morexette Marie B. Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Only a few passengers were accommodated in the new Cebu North Bus Terminal (CNBT) during its first day of full operations last Thursday, October 15.
Carmen Quijano, manager of Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT), said ‘more or less’ 500 passengers went in and out of the new terminal which is at the outdoor parking lot of SM City Cebu.
“Di gyud kaayo daghan. Gamay ra gyud kaayo. (There weren’t too many passengers. There were only a few). More or less 500,” said Quijano.
The management of the Capitol-owned CSBT was tasked to oversee and run the new CNBT.
In the meantime, Quijano said the first day of the new terminal’s operations went generally smooth, except for ‘minor concerns’ such as passengers confused on where the entrance and exit, and shelter from the rain.
“Maayo kaayo atong dagan, and we are very thankful for the governor and SM kay ang mga pasahero sa norte makabyahe na tawon. Daghan sad nila ang nalipay (Everything went smoothly, and we are very thankful for the governor and SM for giving north-bound passengers to travel. A lot were actually happy),” said Quijano.
She also said they had earned around P30,000 from fees on bus operators on its first day of operations.
Quijano said they were expecting the figures, both in terms of income and passenger traffic, to slightly increase in the coming days.
“Di pa na sila full blown kay tagsaw-tagsaw pa kaayo atong operations run (These numbers don’t reflect the performance of full-blown operations since right now, we’re still doing everything in a gradual manner),” she said.
The manager added that passengers were also advised to brace for more changes as they would continue to observe their operations, and possibly would implement new rules and policies in the terminals as the days would progress.
The CNBT was relocated to a new location after the lease agreement between the city governments of Mandaue and Cebu to operate and manage the old terminal ended this October.
The Mandaue City government earlier signified that it had no intention of renewing the contract as it intended to already use the lot. Following the pandemic, Mandaue City started to develop the terminal into an isolation facility.
As a result, the Capitol stepped in and entered into an agreement with SM Prime Holdings Inc. to use the outdoor parking area of SM City Cebu as the new CNBT site.
A ceremony was held last October 12, 2020, to mark its soft opening. /dbs
RELATED STORY: Cebu North Bus Terminal moved to mall compound as Capitol takes over CNBT’s operations