DOTr to roll out Love Bus by end-2025

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation is reviving the Love Bus, a martial law-era program, to provide free rides first in Cebu City and Davao City before the end of the year, DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon announced yesterday.

Dizon said the DOTr would follow the directive of President Marcos to relaunch the Love Bus.

Dizon showed the mock-up designs of the bus, drawing inspiration from the blue colorway of its predecessor, stamped with the iconic heart logo in the center.

The DOTr aims to have the buses ply the roads within the year, with Cebu and Davao as the initial recipients of the units.

“We will do what the President wants for our commuters. Hopefully, before the year ends, we can start the Love Bus as a nationwide program,” Dizon said.

In his State of the Nation Address on Monday, Marcos announced the return of the Love Bus to provide free public transportation.

The President said the Love Bus would be piloted in Cebu City and Davao City, where the DOTr is providing “libreng sakay” on select routes.

In a 2021 journal article, transport expert Rene Santiago said the Love Bus was launched in the 1970s by the now-defunct Metropolitan Manila Transit Corp. (MMTC). It was the first air-conditioned bus in Metro Manila.

Former first lady Imelda Marcos co-opted the project by making the Love Bus operate on a fixed fare.

Santiago said the MMTC’s board of directors opposed the idea, but approved it later on.

Santiago said the Love Bus became a symbol of public transport during its peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but started to decline when the government sped up its fleet expansion.

The Love Bus added more untested brands to its fleet that led to higher operating costs per kilometer, resulting in losses for the MMTC.