The Bonifacio Transport Corporation, or more commonly known as BGC Bus or formerly The Fort Bus, is an intercity bus company in Metro Manila, the Philippines, serving routes that connect Makati and Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Bonifacio Transport Corp.
A Mercedes-Benz Citaro bus operating under the BGC Bus transport system.
Founded1998; 26 years ago (1998)
Headquarters2/F Bonifacio Technology Centre, 31st Street cor. 2nd Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila
Service areaBonifacio Global City
Service typeCity Operation
OperatorFort Bonifacio Development Corp.

The company is a subsidiary of the Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation (FBDC), an affiliate company under the Ayala Corporation. The bus system uses the Beep contactless smart card and GCash e-wallet as modes of electronic payment.[1][2]

Its bus depot is situated in the western part of Bonifacio Global City, near the Kalayaan Flyover.[3]

History

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Founded in 1998, the Bonifacio Transport Corporation was established under the Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation (FBDC). It was formed through an initial fleet of 24 buses — 10 of which are Mercedes-Benz buses and the rest are a mix of Daewoo, and Nissan Diesel units — as an intercity transport system to and from the adjacent business districts of Bonifacio Global City and Ayala Center.[4][5]

In 2008, six Mercedes-Benz O500M 1725 buses were deployed by FBDC, followed by an additional 14 buses to keep up with passenger demand.[6][7][8] In the same year, HM Transport Inc. and the Bonifacio Transport Corporation signed an agreement, allowing the use of HM Transport buses to serve routes to and from Bonifacio Global City. As a result, a weekday bus route between the Market! Market! shopping mall in Taguig, EDSA, and Kalayaan Avenue was established.[9]

In 2016, the BGC Bus replaced its TapBGC contactless smart card with AF Payments Inc.'s Beep card. A limited public trial was conducted from June 11 to 26, and was fully rolled out on June 27, 2016.[1]

In 2024, BGC Bus route was extended to Gil Puyat station which began on May 20, operating only on weekday mornings.[10]

Fleet

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Mercedes-Benz DMMW Aero Extreme
 
MCV Evolution C120 LE

Bonifacio Transport Corp. utilizes and maintains Mercedes-Benz buses.

These buses were formerly operated by Bonifacio Transport Corp. They have since been sold off, scrapped, or simply left inactive.

Routes

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As of May 2024, BGC Bus operates primarily on 8 different routes with terminals at the McKinley Exchange Corporate Center along EDSA in Makati and at the Market! Market! mall in Taguig.[16] On August 7, 2017, express bus routes were introduced.[17] All times are in Philippine Standard Time (UTC 08:00).

List of BGC Bus routes
Route Origin Destination Schedule Ref.
East Express  EX01  EDSA Ayala  EX02  Market! Market! Monday to Friday
5 AM to 1 AM
[18][19]
North Express  NX01  EDSA Ayala  NX07  BGC Arts Center Monday to Friday
6 AM to 1 AM
Saturday and Sunday
6 AM to 12 AM
[18][19]
Central Route  C01  Market! Market!  C09  University Parkway Monday to Friday
5 AM to 1 AM
[20][18]
Arca South Express  AS01  Arca South  AS10  Market! Market! Monday to Friday
To BGC: 6:40 AM
To Arca South: 5 PM
[18]
West Route  W01  EDSA Ayala  W09  Fort Victoria Monday to Friday
5 AM to 1 AM
[18][21]
BHS-Ayala Express  BA01  EDSA Ayala  BA02  One Bonifacio High Street Sunday to Thursday
10:15 PM
Friday and Saturday
11:15 PM
[22]
Weekend Route  WE01  EDSA Ayala  WE17  Fort Victoria Saturday and Sunday
5 AM to 12 AM
[18]
LRT Gil Puyat  01  EDSA Ayala  13  Harrison Monday to Friday
6 AM to 10 AM
[23]
List of discontinued BGC Bus routes
Route Origin Destination Schedule Ref.
North Route  N01  North Station  N12  Uptown Parade Monday to Friday
6 AM to 10 PM
[18][24]
Nuvali Express  NU01  Nuvali  NU02  Market! Market! Monday to Friday
To BGC: 6:30 AM
To Nuvali: 6:30 PM to 7:15 PM
[18]
Upper West Express  WX01  EDSA Ayala  WX03  Crescent Park West Monday to Friday
6 AM to 10 PM
[21]
Lower West Express  L01  EDSA Ayala  L05  Fort Victoria Monday to Friday
6 AM to 10 PM
[18][21]
Night Route  NR01  EDSA Ayala  NR15  Fort Victoria Monday to Friday
10 PM to 6 AM (30-minute intervals)
[18][25]
Ayala Express  AX01  EDSA Ayala  AX10  Glorietta 5 Monday to Friday
6 AM to 10 PM
[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "beep™ card & BGC Bus tie-up, a win for commuters". beep™ business. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  2. ^ "BGC bus starts accepting GCash payments onboard". Milyonaryo.com.ph. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  3. ^ Balinbin, Arjay L. (August 1, 2021). "Makati-BGC pedestrian, bike link to start full operations next year". BusinessWorld. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
  4. ^ Ni Madam Rosa (August 10, 2009). "Bonifacio Global City: Built with character, designed with soul". Philstar.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  5. ^ "Megaworld properties at Fort Bonifacio Global City". Megaworldglobalcity.wordpress.com. February 16, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  6. ^ "Shuttle's best". Philstar.com. April 14, 2008. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  7. ^ premierpropertyspecialist (August 18, 2008). "Mercedes-Benz shuttle coaches inside Bonifacio Global City". Ayalaupdates.wordpress.com. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  8. ^ "Mercedes-Benz shuttle coaches inside Bonifacio Global City". Findarticles.com. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  9. ^ Pio, Jojo (February 24, 2011). "Commuting-Travelling To Fort Bonifacio Global City From Ayala". Tofortbonifaciofromayala.blogspot.com. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  10. ^ "The BGC Bus now has an LRT Gil Puyat route". TopGear. May 21, 2024.
  11. ^ "BGC Bus 009 Chassis: Daewoo BF105".
  12. ^ "BGC Bus 011 Chassis: Daewoo BS106".
  13. ^ "BGC Bus 003 Chassis: Isuzu Forward FTR".
  14. ^ "Mercedes Benz Almazora Travel Star".
  15. ^ "BGC 007". Flickr.
  16. ^ Guiao, Micah Avry (August 27, 2023). "LIST: Here Are the Bus Routes in BGC". Spot.ph. Summit Media. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  17. ^ Tantiangco, Aya (August 2, 2017). "BGC rolls out express buses, new routes". GMA News. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "BGC Bus Routes and Schedule Changes with the New One-Way Scheme". Primer. Primer Media Inc. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  19. ^ a b "East and North Express Route – BGC". Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  20. ^ "Central Route – BGC". Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  21. ^ a b c "Lower West Route – BGC". Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  22. ^ "BHS-Ayala Express". TheFortCity.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  23. ^ Guiao, Micah Avry (May 21, 2024). "BGC Bus Has a New Route to LRT-1 Gil Puyat". Spot.ph. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  24. ^ "North Route – BGC". Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  25. ^ "Night Route – BGC". Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  26. ^ Isla, Rouselle (April 5, 2022). "BGC Bus Route and Schedule Guide for Commuters". Moneymax. Retrieved April 26, 2022.