Rural Transit has new buses in its routes

Categories In Transit

Much to my surprise when I got to the Ecoland bus terminal in Davao City, seeing for the first time the new buses of Rural Transit Mindanao Inc. (RTMI). It was big, huge, in fact compared to their usual airconditioned and deluxe buses with plush seating, cavernous baggage compartment and a built in toilet! It seats 49 passengers and is probably the first in Mindanao, if Super 5, that other big company that plies the CDO-Iligan route hasn’t beaten it yet.

Mindanao, although the second largest island in the Philippines has only a few big bus lines serving the major routes with Ceres Liner the dominant provider. It owns Ceres Liner that plies the CDO-Surigao route with its yellow buses. It’s own Rural Transit (Bachelor and Fortune Express were bought out in 1985, Lilian and Mary May Express in 2005) plies the CDO-Gensan, Davao, Pagadian, Zamboanga, Dipolog routes.

I have only seen these buses plying the CDO-DVO and CDO-ILIGAN (and vice versa) routes and according to the guard that I spoke to at the terminal, started last week. These buses are manufactured by King Long of China and the type, the XMQ6129Y, have been awarded Coach of the Year in the BAAV 2007, a yearly bus industry competition.

I took this bus from Davao City to Cagayan de Oro as well as Cagayan de Oro to Iligan. The seats are comfortable and, unlike RTMI’s older buses, made the trip more bearable when it passed through road works in Bukidnon. The flat screen TVs are also clear although there were differences in the rendering of the colors and contrast. One problem though is I kept on bumping into these TVs when going down.

Although better buses have been in Luzon for years, those with built in toilets, sleeper types and the like, it’s only recently that Mindanao has a taste of these kind of buses. Is RTMI the first and only one offering new units? Actually, its competitor, Super 5 Transport Inc., which covers a smaller area has better Higer buses since 2014 but I haven’t seen one that offers built in toilets.

Please, this is not the bus company. If you have questions re bus schedules, trips and more, here is their address and contact information from GOOGLE:

Address: Zone 1, Barangay Bulua, Cagayan de Oro, 9000 Misamis Oriental
Phone:(088) 858 588

View of the bus from the front
View of the bus from the front
View of the bus interior from the back. Enclosed compartment is the built in toilet.
View of the bus interior from the back. Enclosed compartment is the built in toilet.
Comfortable seats with flanged head rests
Comfortable seats with flanged head rests
The driver's area and dashboard
The driver’s area and dashboard
Spacious cargo bay
Spacious cargo bay
Swivel flat screen tvs
Swivel flat screen tvs
From left to right: plastic aircon vents, seats and sealed in overhead baggage compartment and bus entrance
From left to right: plastic aircon vents, seats and sealed in overhead baggage compartment and bus entrance
Exterior and interior of toilet
Exterior and interior of toilet
The new buses of Rural Transit (RTMI) that serves the CDO-DVO and CDO-ILI routes
The new buses of Rural Transit Mindanao Inc. (RTMI) that serves the CDO-DVO and CDO-ILI routes

All images taken with the LG G3

Estan Cabigas is freelance photographer, blogger and writer based in Makati City, the Philippines. A true blue Cebuano, he makes stunning images and meaningful photo stories. His work has been published in local and international publications including National Geographic Magazine, Geo (Germany), Sunday Times Magazine (London).

He is also a peripatetic traveler and has traveled to all 81 Philippines provinces. Open for work, collaborations and inquiries for site features.

51 thoughts on “Rural Transit has new buses in its routes”

  2. Nice Blog, I have a question??
    Did you tried using the bus cr, because i heard that the passengers are NOT allowed to use the cr on the bus, when the bus is at the terminal,
    by the way i have something to add to your blog , The first bus company that offer on board cr in davao was Yellow Bus Line between Davao- Gensan- Marbel v.v way back 2013

  5. Gam, its everyday starting from early morning till midnight ata. Different kinds of buses from non air to aircon, every hour. Probably except after lunch till early evening. usually i ride the night trip para davao na early morning or 8-9 am to arrive late afternoon or early evening.

  8. Unsaon namo pag contact sa ilang opis kung magpa schedule mi ug group tour. Moabot ba ni nga bus sa DAKAK??? Pwede ba namo makuha ang ilang contact number? Thank you

  12. Good morning po! Tanong ko lang po kung ilan oras ang biyahe mula cdo to davao? San po ang terminal? Oras-oras po ba may umaalis na bus?

  13. Roma, its 6-8 hours depending on the condition of the road. This time, medyo may mga road works in Bukidnon. Non stop, usually 6 hours but evening trips. Terminal in CDO: Agora, DVO: Ecoland. Almost every hour especially morning till noon and evening.

  17. Hello, naay biyahe from dipolog to cdo? unsay oras ang trip nila ug pila ang plite. thanks.

  19. Hi. Question po. Ano po schedules netong mga bagong buses from Davao to CDO? meron din po ba to sa Ecoland terminal? and how much is the fare po? we’ll be visiting next week. Thank you!

  20. Alex, don’t really know the schedule of the new buses. You have to ask them at the terminals either in Ecoland or Agora. Fare is around 500+

  24. Am planning to take your air conditioned bus with toilet on July 22, what is your schedule and how much is the fare. Tried calling your landline but there was no answer. Thanks.

  26. Hello po, May tanong po ako! Galing Agora Terminal, CDO to Davao City, anong terminal po ako bababa? and what Bus Company ang inyong ma i rerekomenda like Super Five po ba or Rural Transit or baka isa lang ang unit ng bus from CDO to Davao City. Magkano po pamasahe if full at kung SP in air conditioned bus with wifi?

  27. There are several buses of Rural Transit between the two cities. You can go down at Ecoland Terminal, the terminus of the CDO-DVO bus. Please check the bus company for rates.

  28. I hope I can aboard the newest fleet launched by Rural Tours towards Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City or Zamboanga City.

  33. It’s better to aboard NON-STOP Route Davao-Cagayan de Oro-Davao to enjoy luxurious & comfort of newly launched Kinglong Model. I hope & one day, I aboard that unit to travel towards Iligan City, Pagadian City & Zamboanga City.

  34. Hello!!asked ko lang ko po regarding dito

    Zamboanga City?
    Fare Rate:
    Travel Hours:
    Cheapest Inn or hotel:

    Surigao City
    Fare Rate:
    Travel Hours:
    Cheapest Inn or hotel:

    Cagayan De Oro City
    Fare Rate:
    Travel Hours:
    Cheapest Inn or hotel:

    General Santos City
    Fare Rate:
    Travel Hours:

    Cheapest Inn or hotel:
    Maraming salamat!!

  36. Hello can i ask how much is the fare from cagayan de oro to dipolog? How many hours and what time is the first trip? Travel po ako bukas. Thank you.

  39. Hi po pwede mag-ask ng updated bus fare davao to cagayan de oro? I hope you can help me! I can’t find the website of the company kasi. Thank you 😉

  40. Good evening po, ask ko sana ako kung 24 hours ang travel from davao to cagayan or may madaling araw na na byahi? Thank you

  43. Arly, wala. Cutting trip ka. From Tacloban, take bus all the way to Surigao then from there, get a bus to CDO and then ride another for Zamboanga.

  46. Hi, how much po fare ordinary/de luxe RTMI bus from Cagyan de oro to Surigao?

  50. Hindi ko rin po alam since travel blog po ito. Kung nonstop aircon, usually overnight trips po yan. I think it will range P500-700.

  51. LottyP, I searched po sa GOOGLE: Address: Zone 1, Barangay Bulua, Cagayan de Oro, 9000 Misamis Oriental
    Phone:(088) 858 5887

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