Bataan Transit's new Higer LE, and the mystery of its route

Bataan Transit's inclusion in the EDSA Carousel route
is a surprise to many, but there is a special reason
behind it. Photo: Khemachat Dhamrong-rattanaroj 2020

     Late last week, Bataan Transit made a stir in the bus enthusiast community as their brand-new Higer KLQ6129G low-entry city buses hit the streets of Metro Manila. Quite apart from being a fresh face at the EDSA Carousel busway, it was quite a surprise to see a company known for provincial operations, especially since most provincial buses are still kept in storage, not allowed to traverse their usual routes without LTFRB's approval.

    Most provincial bus companies today were either sitting idle in their home bases, being used as company shuttles, or already approved to resume limited operations by the LTFRB. Aside from a handful of provincial operators with obvious city routes (HM Transport and Santrans, for example), most provincial buses are not allowed to operate inside Metro Manila. So what is Bataan Transit doing in Metro Manila, and in EDSA Carousel of all places?

Bataan Transit #2337, a Nissan Diesel JA450SSN coach built by Santarosa.
Bataan's first units were of this brand. Photo: Teddy Kwon 2015

A Brief History of Bataan Transit's EDSA city route

    Bataan Transit was founded in the early 2000's as a subsidiary of Hernandez's family's Five Star Bus, and started operations in 2003. As its name suggests, it mostly caters to trips to and from Bataan, holding franchises to the Balanga-Manila, Mariveles-Manila, Lamao-Manila, and Mariveles - La Union routes since its inception. At the start of its operations, Bataan Transit acquired Nissan Diesel RB46S and JA450SSN units built by Santarosa Motor Works.

    However, a little-known route is in Bataan Transit's repertoire as well. Alongside all of its lines approved in 2003, the company has also acquired thru sale and transfer a single franchise with the route Baclaran - Heritage Homes in Meycauayan, Bulacan via EDSA and NLEX. This route exists since at least 1999, being held by a single operator and with authorization to use 14 units. It is not known yet who the original operator was, but 6 short years after its original approval, the route was transferred to Bataan Transit.

    While it may be favorable for Bataan Transit to operate this line, the company did not seem inclined to assign 14 units out of its approximately 120 units to a daily grind in the EDSA route. Thus, all of their units were sent to provincial runs, and their city operation line sat idle for years.

Bataan Transit #341, one of their KLQ6128LQ units assigned to the Baclaran-Meycauayan route
(now assigned to Route 20 Monumento-Meycauayan) Photo: Roi Estanislao 2020

Dropping and substitution with Higer units

    Their Nissan Diesel buses were mostly bought in 2003 (some in 2004 and 2005), thus after 2018 was no longer eligible to be confirmed for public transportation. Not replacing these units will result in losing their franchises outright; Bataan Transit thus made a move to substitute the aging Nissan Diesel buses with newer, modern Higer buses, ordered around 2019. Their unit of choice is the KLQ6128LQ coach to replace the oldest of Bataan's buses.

    Around the same time as Bataan's refleeting, the LTFRB made it clear that only low-entry city buses will be allowed to replace old buses in Metro Manila routes. To avoid the situation of abandonment, Bataan Transit set to revive their Baclaran-Meycauayan route, assigned five (5) KLQ6128LQ coaches to the route, and modified some of their subsequent orders into nine (9) KLQ6125G low-entry city buses, to complete the substitution process.

St. Martin, one of the many bus companies on the EDSA Carousel route,
taken by most commuters going across Metro Manila on a daily basis.
Bataan's low-entry buses will share this experience during operations.
Photo: Roi Estanislao 2020

Pandemic and route rationalization

    In early 2020, the Philippines underwent into quarantine, as a response to the threat of COVID-19. Bus transportation is halted, and every bus unit were locked up in garages, not knowing when they will be allowed to travel.

    On May 2020, the Department of Transportation formulated a quarantine transportation plan where city buses would be allowed to operate 31 initial routes, assuming that they consort with other companies. Bataan Transit, together with its sister companies Starbus and Citybus, joined the Mega Manila Consortium Corporation (MMCC), in compliance to the DOTr requirements.

    One of the bid routes was Monumento-Meycauayan; Bataan Transit, to maximize the consortium's chances to acquire the route's permit, finally declared their intention to revive their route in the Meycauayan area, making them an area-based operator at the Monumento-Meycauayan route. The plan worked; MMCC was awarded the route, and Bataan Transit and Starbus were granted special permits to operate it everyday. As the route did not require low-entry buses (and they were not delivered yet anyway), Bataan used five of its KLQ6128LQ buses for the short feeder route.

    It proved to be even more favorable to the Five Star group when LTFRB-Region III opened routes from Meycauayan to Central Luzon provinces. Five Star and Cisco, another sister company, operated buses from Meycauayan to Tarlac and Nueva Ecija daily, and Bataan and Starbus provided the essential connection into Metro Manila.

    As Bataan Transit already had the orders for the KLQ6129G buses before the quarantine, MMCC had included these units for their assignment at the EDSA Carousel route. All they need to do is wait for its arrival and registration, and in November 2020 they were finally released and deployed immediately to the EDSA route, where they are expected to serve thousands of commuters daily.

    While many bus operators are on the process of replacing their fleets with modern buses, few of them may enjoy the head-turning sensation that Bataan Transit experienced in the last week. Who would have expected them to join the most demanding, most taken, and most popular route in Metro Manila, and with such a beautiful city bus like the Higer KLQ6129G? Very few things could now surprise bus enthusiasts at this point. Now we shall see whether Bataan Transit is here to stay with us in the Metro as well as in the province someday once the situation normalizes.