Araneta City Bus Port

Araneta City Bus Port
The bus port entrance from General Romulo Avenue
General information
Location	160 General Romulo Avenue, Quezon City, Metro Manila Philippines
Coordinates	14°37′15″N121°3′26″E / 14.62083°N 121.05722°E / 14.62083; 121.05722
Owned by	Araneta City, Inc.
Operated by	Araneta City, Inc.
Bus routes	61
Bus stands	19 bays [1]
Bus operators	ALPS The Bus German Espiritu Liner Inc. German Espiritu Liner Pangasinan Solid North Transit, Inc. R.J. Express UBE Express
Connections	Transfers to intercity and provincial buses, jeepneys, and UV Express Araneta Center-Cubao 3 Araneta Center-Cubao   51    53   Farmers Plaza   1   Cubao Future:   E  Cubao
Construction
Structure type	Surface building
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Website	Official website
History
Opened	March 14, 2017 (2017-03-14) [2]
Previous names	Araneta Center Bus Port
Passengers
6,000-12,000 [1]
Location

The Araneta City Bus Port (ACBP), also styled Araneta City Busport, is a bus station in Quezon City, Metro Manila, the Philippines. The bus station is currently one of two bus terminals in the Araneta City business district that link Metro Manila with the provinces in the country, including cities in the Luzon Archipelago via the Philippine Nautical Highway System. ^{[2] [3]}

Built and completed in 2017 as the modern alternative to, and eventual replacement for, the adjacent Araneta City Bus Terminal, the oldest integrated bus terminal in Metro Manila, in operation since 1993, and is also a hub for buses servicing the Bicol Region. ^{[4] [5]} The busport is used by inter-city and provincial bus lines. ^{[2] [6]} The terminal is connected to the LRT Line 2 and MRT Line 3 by a network of elevated walkways and mall connections.

Location

General Romulo Avenue alongside Ali Mall

The Araneta City Bus Port is located along General Romulo Avenue on the eastern side of Araneta City within the barangay of Socorro, Quezon City. It occupies the ground level of Manhattan Heights, a four-tower residential condominium complex that is part of the 5.7-hectare (14-acre), 18-tower highrise community developed by Megaworld Corporation called Manhattan Gardens. ^[7] The bus station is situated in the district of Cubao, a densely populated area north of Ortigas Center in east-central Metro Manila that has the highest density of bus terminals in the entire Manila metropolitan area. ^[8] It is directly across from Ali Mall and one block from the old Araneta bus station on Times Square Avenue.

History

The old Araneta bus terminal on Times Square Avenue

The Araneta busport sits on the original location of Metro Manila's first integrated terminal which opened in 1993. ^[9] In 2011, the Araneta Center Bus Station was relocated to the old Rustan's building located on Times Square Avenue built in 1974, after the department store transferred to its new home at the newly opened Gateway Mall in 2005, ^{[9] [10]} to make way for the construction of the Manhattan Heights, a 4-tower condominium development, as part of the Manhattan Gardens complex. The old bus terminal is expected to be torn down in the future to make way for the construction of the Manhattan Plaza, the final highrise development of the Manhattan Gardens project. ^[9]

The modern busport at Manhattan Heights was inaugurated as the Araneta Center Bus Port in March 2017 with Vice President Leni Robredo in attendance. ^[3] Following the issuance of the Metro Manila Council regulation prohibiting the operation of all provincial bus terminals along EDSA in order to ease traffic congestion in Manila's main artery, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority announced in May 2019 that the Araneta bus terminal shall be exempt from the ban. ^[11]

In March 2020, the terminal was closed due the COVID-19 pandemic, and served as an RT-PCR COVID-19 saliva testing site, in partnership with the Philippine Red Cross, while transport services were temporarily moved to the old Araneta City Bus Station, which has 23 bays. ^[12] The old bus terminal reopened in September 2020, and has limited its operations to Central Luzon, and has gradually expanded its services, while reviving previous routes within 2021 to 2022. ^{[13] [14] [15]} As of 2021, the Araneta Group have no announcement for the bus port's reopening, and is currently being utilized as a parking facility.

On October 25, 2022, the Araneta Group announced that all inter-city and provincial buses will be moved out from the Araneta City Bus Station, and will relocate their operations to the Araneta Bus Port. The day after the announcement, October 26, the Araneta City Bus Port reopened its operations, and services routes within areas around Metro Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tabuk, Laguna, and Batangas. Presently, the Araneta City Bus Station is used to service modern jeepneys (BEEP) to and from select destinations in Quezon City, Pasig, and the Province of Rizal, under the Transport Equipment Aggregator and Management Inc. (1-TEAM), and other various transport cooperatives. ^{[16] [17] [18]}

Services

As of June 2024, the Araneta City Bus Port services the following routes:

Provincial

Bus

• ALPS The Bus & Gold Star Transport, Inc. – operate to and from three destinations in Batangas, namely San Juan, Batangas City, and Lipa. ^[19]
• German Espiritu Liner Inc. - operate to and from two destinations in Bulacan, namely Bocaue and Bulakan, Bulacan. ^[19]
• Pangasinan Solid North Transit, Inc. - operate to and from Baguio City. ^[20]
• R.J. Express, Inc. - operate to and from two destinations in Pampanga, namely San Fernando and Arayat. ^[19]

Intercity

Bus

• UBE Express operates Premium Point-to-Point Bus Service to Manila International Airport. ^{[21] [19]}
• Mega Manila Consortium Corporation operates 4 bus routes under the rationalized bus transit system, and offers buses passing to and from Antipolo, bus route number 51 bound for Valenzuela, bus route number 53 bound for Pacita Complex (San Pedro), and bus route number 61 bound for Dasmariñas respectively. ^{[22] [23] [24] [19]}

Jeep & Shuttle Services

• Araneta City, Inc. operates electric-powered city shuttles (e-shuttles, also known as Green & Go) to destinations within the Araneta City district from Ali Mall to the LRT 2 Cubao Station Concourse and the Gateway Mall 2 Southern Entrance. The Bus Port served as the shuttle's parking garage before reopening its services in November 2022.

Nearby Transport Services

Other transport terminals are located within walking distance from the Araneta Bus Port, which includes the following:

• Traditional jeeps operate from the Araneta City Jeepney Terminal further north along General Romulo Avenue to Calumpang, Camp Crame, Lagro, and Project 4; and in major cities and municipalities in Rizal including Angono, Antipolo, Cainta, Silangan (San Mateo), and Taytay. Some jeepneys going to Divisoria, Sta. Mesa and Remedios in Manila, Parang, and SSS Village in Marikina, and Cogeo, and Padilla in Antipolo operate along Aurora Blvd below the LRT 2-Gateway Mall Station Concourse.
• Modernized jeepneys operate from the old Araneta City Bus Terminal at Times Square Avenue to Fairview, Novaliches, Eastwood City, Roces Avenue, and Project 4 in Quezon City, Rosario and Sta. Lucia in Pasig City, Parang, SSS Village, and Calumpang in Marikina, San Rafael, and Kasiglahan Village in Montalban, Muzon in San Jose Del Monte, Deparo in Caloocan, Cogeo, Padilla, and Antipolo Cathedral in Antipolo.
• UV Express vehicles within Farmers Plaza (both within General Roxas Avenue Terminal and Central Avenue Terminal) bound for selected areas in Quezon City (Novaliches), Northern Caloocan (Deparo), Bulacan (Malolos), Laguna (namely San Pedro, Balibago,Santa Rosa, and Santa Rosa ^[25] ) and the province of Rizal (namely Rodriguez, Cogeo/Padilla, and Antipolo).
• Farmers Plaza Bus Stop serving buses under the old route 9 (now route 3 bound for Robinsons Antipolo) also terminates in this bus stop.
• Buses under bus route number 3, which travels from Antipolo to Quiapo via LRT 2-Gateway Mall Station Concourse.
• MRT Line 3 (Araneta Center–Cubao station)
• LRT Line 2 (Araneta Center–Cubao station)

Suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The following bus companies moved out from the Araneta City Bus Station and shifted their operations within their own terminals within Cubao until 2023, or moved their operations to the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange:

• ALPS The Bus – originally serving several destinations within Batangas, Bicol Region and Iloilo City.
• Ceres Transport – operates provincial buses to several destinations in Batangas & parts of Western Visayas, including Malay and Kalibo in Aklan, San Jose de Buenavista, Antique, Roxas, Capiz and Iloilo City. ^[26]
• CUL Transport – services the routes to Sorsogon, Leyte and Southern Leyte including Sorsogon City, Tacloban, Ormoc, Baybay and Maasin. ^[27]
• Diamond Bus – operates to and from select destinations in Samar. ^[28]
• DLTBCo – operates provincial buses to and from the following destinations in the Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas: Legazpi, Daet, Ormoc, Borongan and Catarman. ^[29]
• Elavil Bus Company – operates provincial buses to several destinations in Northern Samar. ^[30]
• Philtranco – serves the terminal on its route to several destinations in the Bicol Region via its main terminal in Pasay. ^[6]
• Silver Star Shuttle & Tours – operates bus services to and from Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte and Bohol, including Calbayog, Catbalogan, Guiuan, Tacloban and Tagbilaran. ^[31]
• Provincial Buses like Amihan, Belleza, Bobis Liner, Cagsawa Travel, JVH, Megabus, Raymond Transportation and RSL operate to and from several
• Solid North Transit – runs several routes from Araneta City Bus Port to destinations in Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, and Baguio. ^[32] destinations in the Bicol Region, including Masbate.
• Philippine Rabbit Bus Lines, Inc. - operates to and from three destinations in Pampanga, namely Dau in Mabalacat, San Fernando, and Angeles City.
• ES Transport - operate to and from destinations in Cabanatuan and Tabuk.
• HM Transport Inc. - operate to and from four destinations in Laguna, namely Calamba, Los Baños, Pansol, and Santa Cruz. ^[19]

References

1. "Araneta City Busport". Araneta City, Inc. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
2. Dabu, B.R. (March 14, 2017). "New Araneta Center Busport features top-of-the-line amenities". GMA Network . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
3. de Jesus, J.L. (March 14, 2017). "Bus rider Robredo graces launch of modern Cubao terminal". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
4. "Land transport in Manila". Lonely Planet . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
5. Garcia, L. (September 26, 2019). "The New Araneta City rises". BusinessMirror . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
6. "New Araneta Center BusPort Ticketing System". Philtranco . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
7. Remo, A.R. (November 10, 2018). "Be at the center of it all at Manhattan Garden City". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
8. Boquet, Y. (December 3, 2013). "Battling congestion in Manila: the EDSA problem" (PDF). United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
9. Aguilar, K. (April 2, 2017). "Cubao's Modern Bus Terminal". The Urban Roamer. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
10. Tagabucba, M.C. (September 25, 2016). "Nedy Tantoco and Judy Araneta-Roxas: Hand-in-hand at hatdog Rustan's Gateway Cubao". The Philippine Star . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
11. Ong, G. (May 6, 2019). "Cubao bus terminal to stay – MMDA". The Philippine Star . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
12. "Shopping malls now host saliva collection sites for RT-PCR tests". February 22, 2021.
13. Dimen, Yoshke (September 27, 2020). "PROVINCIAL BUSES: List of Requirements & Terminals (To and from Metro Manila)". The Poor Traveler Itinerary Blog.
14. Servallos, Neil Jayson. "LTFRB opens 2 bus routes". Philstar.com.
15. "Laguna, Batangas buses resume services from Araneta City". BusinessWorld Online. April 3, 2022.
16. "Beep Jeep". Araneta City, Inc. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
17. "Provincial buses at Araneta City terminal to relocate to new bus port". ABS-CBN News . October 25, 2022.
18. Martinez, Araneta City, Jeffrey Enriquez, Denny. "Beep Jeep, City Bus & Provincial Bus Schedule". www.aranetacity.com.
19. Martinez, Araneta City, Jeffrey Enriquez, Denny. "Araneta City Bus Station". www.aranetacity.com.
20. "Daily Buses to Baguio Are Now Available from Araneta City BusPort in Quezon City | Yoorekka PH". Yoorekka Philippines.
21. "Araneta Center – NAIA schdules". Premium Point-to-Point Bus Service . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
22. "Resolution No. 73 Series of 2020" (PDF). Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board . May 27, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
23. "Resolution No. 77 Series of 2020" (PDF). Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board . May 27, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
24. "Resolution No. 109 Series of 2020" (PDF). Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board . June 11, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
25. "Please be advised that the following UV Express Routes are now at the Center Avenue (Fronting Farmers Market):". www.facebook.com.
26. "Ceres Bus". PHBus Co. Ltd. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
27. "DLTB Bus". PHBus Co. Ltd. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
28. "Diamond Bus". PHBus Co. Ltd. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
29. "DLTB Bus". PHBus Co. Ltd. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
30. "Elavil Bus". PHBus Co. Ltd. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
31. "Silver Star Bus". PHBus Co. Ltd. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
32. "Solid North Bus". PHBus Co. Ltd. Retrieved January 5, 2020.

External links

• Official website of Araneta City Busport