Baguio’s HOHO tourists bus gaining riders
The Hop On, Hop Off (HOHO) bus of the city government catering to tourists with private vehicles is starting to serve its purpose of decreasing the volume of traffic along main thoroughfares in the city during weekends.
From July 15 to 17, a total of 103 tourists were served by the HOHO bus system.
The Baguio Tourism office carries the tagline “Park and Ride” for the HOHO bus encouraging tourists to be part of the solution in decongesting traffic.
Baguio’s HOHO tourists bus only operates from Fridays to Sundays starting July 15, 2022 with free unlimited rides only for tourists who have approved VISITA QTP or tourists pass and will park their vehicles at the BCCC designated parking areas.
The city’s existing parking rate at the Baguio Convention Center are as follows: P35 for light vehicles for the first two hours plus P10 for every additional hour of parking; P40 for mini excursion buses plus P15 per additional hour; P400 regular tourist buses and P15 per additional hour; and, P10 for motorcycles with P5 additional per hour of parking.
All passengers of the parked vehicle will get a bus pass as ticket to ride on the HOHO Tourist Bus at any scheduled departure time in designated stops around the circuit. The bus pass shall be surrendered when claiming back the parked vehicle. Lost passes will be charged with a fee of P25.
Engr. Aloysius Mapalo, Supervising Administrative Officer of the City Tourism Office, said an average of 50,000 to 60,000 tourists arrives in the city on a weekly basis and about 40,000 arrives from Friday to Sunday.
“Supposing half of the daily tourist arrivals have their own cars, we can estimate more than 800 vehicles passing Botanical Garden during weekdays and even more during weekends so really there is a lot of traffic in the area,” Mapalo explained.
The HOHO bus will follow a self-directed tour circuit taking off from the Baguio Convention Center to the Botanical Garden as the first stop; the Mansion House as the second stop; the Mines View Park will be the third stop and then back to Wright Park as fourth stop via Gibraltar Road to decongest traffic and finally exits via South Drive to the drop off point at Governor Pack Road where tourists may walk around the central business district as well as visit Burnham Park. – Jessa Mardy P. Samidan