Korean tourists joined local commuters in riding the new air-conditioned SM MyBus units to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, a route that started on Christmas eve.
They lined up in a temporary terminal at the parking lot across Radisson Blu Hotel and paid P25 fare.
The trips are covered by a special permit from Dec. 24, 2015 to Jan. 6 next year, said Rico Villaluna, Metro Rapid Transit Services, Inc. (MRTSI) general manager.
The buses ferry passengers every hour starting 7 a.m. till 9 p.m.
Passengers buy tickets at a station near the temporary terminal in SM City Cebu while MRTSI is still processing a permit from the Bureau of Internal Revenue for the cashless payment or the Tap-to-Pay system using their SM MyBus Card.
The cards are sold at the SM City Cebu parking lot for P200 and are preloaded with P100 fare.
“The airport is one of the routes we have applied a franchise for. This is like a test run for us, although the franchise we applied for is from Talisay City to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport,” he said.
The buses used now are temporary units on loan. “But soon, we’ll have the eight Mercedes Benz buses planned to cater to this route,” said Villaluna.
For the shorter route covering SM City Cebu to MCIA, MyBus is charging y P25 per passenger instead of the P75 for the 24-kilometer route Talisay City–MCIA.
After the test run, operators will finalize the locations of bus stops in time for the arrival of the Mercedes Benz buses which are expected the week after Sinulog or after January 17.
SPECIAL PERMIT
Since their special permit for the airport route will end on January 6, Villaluna said they will seek another special permit to use Volvo buses, which have the same features as the Mercedes Benz buses.
“We feel that we need to use special buses for this route because most of the passengers are tourists. We want to stay true to our promise of providing a comfortable option for the riding public,” he said.
Andrew Acquaah Harrison, GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. chief executive adviser, said the special service is a big help since a shortage of taxis in the airport is felt during Christmas.
“The temporary bus stop is just outside the domestic arrivals area. The permanent bus stop will be built by MyBus near the taxi stands and will be designed to fit their bus’ dimension,” said Harrison.
At present, MRTSI has 22 buses running. This includes eight Volvo buses with approved franchises and 14 on-loan buses serving the Parkmall–SM City Cebu–Compania Maritima–SM Seaside City, SM Seaside City–Malacañang sa Sugbo–SM City Cebu–UC Med–Parkmall at P25 per person.