Know Your Bus Series - Barney Auto Lines

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Barney Auto Lines is a provincial bus company based in Atimonan, Quezon. Founded in September 1978, it is currently under the ownership of spouses Barney and Rosela Chito, and operates under a corporate model with the name Barney Auto Lines Group of Companies (BALGCO) Transport, Inc. Barney Chito's brother is Edwin Chito, operator of a separate but related bus company, P&O Transport Corporation.


Barney Auto Lines traditionally operated in the Guinayangan Quezon-Sampaloc route, as one of the first companies to operate between the rural coastal town and the national capital. Later, the company was granted the San Andres Quezon-Alabang route, following the footsteps of its neighbor company Superlines who already had a strong presence in Bondoc Peninsula at that time.


Its last expansion route took it outside its home province into Sta. Elena, Camarines Norte. While a small town, Sta. Elena nevertheless was a place of high potential as a developing community, and with a lack of transportation options between Sta. Elena and Quezon province and beyond, Barney Auto Lines capitalized on it - again directly pitting themselves against Superlines, who had the same interest on the town.


During the last decade, Barney Auto Lines modernized and streamlined their operations. The company took safety and convenience seriously, equipping their buses with CCTV, Wi-Fi connection, RFID subscription. It also maintains a social media account, which has a strong fan following because of its professionalism and hospitality.


Today, Barney Auto Lines operates at the following routes: San Andres Quezon-Alabang Muntinlupa v.v. (9 trips), San Narciso Quezon - Alabang Muntinlupa v.v. (5 trips), Sta. Elena Camarines Norte - Alabang Muntinlupa (5 trips), Tagkawayan Quezon - Alabang Muntinlupa (1 trip) and Guinayangan Quezon - Alabang Muntinlupa (1 trip). Its major competitor is Superlines - both of them even had their main office and garage at the same barangay, not far from each other.


During its earlier years, Barney Auto Lines relied on the Mitsubishi Fuso, Daewoo, Nissan Diesel (2 units JP250NTN) and Isuzu brand. Today, Barney Auto Lines operate using a mixture of units from Hino, Isuzu, Ankai JAC, Asiastar (DM16), and Yutong buses.

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