Good News! EDSA Bus Carousel To Offer FREE Rides From Dec 1 to 31

The EDSA Carousel free ride will start this December 1 and shall last for the whole month, as announced by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) last November 15, Tuesday.

Initially, the starting date of the 24/7 free EDSA bus carousel ride was on December 15, but it was later announced by the DOTr to be moved to an earlier date.

The free EDSA carousel ride will be effective from 4:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Beyond this schedule, the fare for the carousel ride starts at PhP13 for the first five kilometers and PhP2.20 additional fare for every added kilometer.

Along with the anticipated peak of the Christmas season, this announcement of the EDSA Carousel free ride is also instead of the new Metro Manila mall operation hours for the holiday season. The new mall schedule, which started on November 14 until January 6, 2023, will last depending on certain circumstances regarding mall foot traffic.

The EDSA carousel has bus stops at Bagong Barrio, Balintawak, Buendia, Guadalupe, Kaingin, Main Avenue, Monumento, Nepa Q. Mart, North Avenue, Ortigas, Quezon Avenue, Roosevelt, Roxas Boulevard, Santolan, and at Taft Avenue. The EDSA bus carousel routes from Caloocan City to Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.

DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said that they would use the remaining funds allotted in their budget to fund the EDSA Carousel free ride program and extend the benefit for the commuters in Metro Manila taking these routes along EDSA. Bautista also added that the DOTr ordered the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to move the free EDSA carousel bus ride earlier.

The free carousel bus ride initiative implemented by the DOTr and LTFRB is aimed to ensure that commuters will have a safe ride beyond the regular hours of buses routing EDSA. The LTFRB is set to release a board resolution to authorize the EDSA Carousel free ride to be implemented on December 1 under the Service Contracting Program.

The DOTr shall further strengthen the security operations of the EDSA bus carousel through the aid of the Inter-Agency Council for Traffic (I-ACT).

There will be 100 bus units to be deployed along EDSA for 24/7 operations between 11:01 PM to 3:59 AM, and the operational guidelines for these bus units will be issued by the LTFRB as well. These buses will operate for 6 single trips or 3 round trips.

To ensure commuters’ safety during the EDSA Carousel free ride, I-ACT shall deploy traffic enforcers to ensure that every passenger will get on and off the carousel buses as safely as possible. It is mainly with the anticipated influx of passengers who will take the EDSA busways at the peak of the holiday season, according to Mark Steven Pastor, the DoTr Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure.

On the flip side, the EDSA Carousel free ride or also previously known as “Libreng Sakay” of EDSA carousel buses, will only be until the end of 2022 because of the lack of funds and budget for the program.

The free EDSA bus carousel ride program first took effect under the administration of Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, which was implemented to address the struggles of commuters during the onslaught of the COVID-19 outbreak.

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