Fewer passengers traveled from a bus terminal in Quezon City during this year’s Undas break, with rising fares cited as one possible reason.
At the Solid North bus terminal in Cubao, there were more vacant seats in the waiting area than those already occupied by passengers around 9:20 a.m. on Sunday, which also falls on the commemoration of All Saints’ Day.
According to Nelson Danieles, the terminal’s ticket master, around 599 passengers booked a trip to Baguio from Oct. 30, 11:30 p.m. to Oct. 31, 10 p.m. Meanwhile, approximately 2,100 passengers were bound to Pangasinan on Saturday.
‘Last year kasi, mas maraming pasahero kaysa ngayon,’ Danieles told INQUIRER in an interview.
(There were more passengers last year than this year.)
Danieles also agreed with the observation of the terminal’s dispatcher that the fare increase affected this year’s passenger count.
‘Tumaas ang pamasahe, totoo yon. Oo kasi tumaas ang pamasahe dito sa kahit anong terminal, tumataas ang pamasahe,’ Danieles added.
(The fares increased.)
Danieles shared that the fare for the terminal’s trip to Dagupan, Pangasinan last year was estimated at P540, but it rose to over P600 for this year.
The LTFRB recommended the fare increase for PUVs in March 2026.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. suspended its supposed implementation, noting that ‘it was not the time to raise fares for our countrymen’ as ‘we still have problems due to the war in the Middle East.’
Six months later, the implementation of the fare increase finally pushed through.
Bus firm Victory Liner earlier called on the national government to lift the suspension of fare hike implementation as it lamented the rising cost of operational costs. It noted that as fuel prices increase, fuel accounts for approximately 45-60 percent of their operating costs. The firm’s appeal was also supported by other groups such as Provincial Bus Operators Associations of the Philippines, Nagkakaisang Samahan ng Nangangasiwa ng Panlalawigan Bus sa Pilipinas, Southern Luzon Bus Operator Association, and Mega Manila Consortium.