In general, yes! They fill up at the depot and drop off at various points along the way. Often its point to point with no pick ups or drop offs and at other times there are pick up points (usually in areas not serviced by a Ceres bus)
Two and a half hours drive on that same route made me sick. How fast do V-Hires drive? I haven't been in one.
As fast as they can. EDIT: As an example. I was once headed north, on a motorcycle, from Cebu city to Danao. Coming towards me was a slow moving multicab. The Ceres bus behind him ignored the fact that I was in the oncoming lane and pulled out to pass, forcing me onto the shoulder of the road. Then, unseen until he pulled out from behind the Ceres bus, a V-Hire pulled out to pass both of them, oblivious to whether I was in the oncoming lane or not. It forced me to go off the road or die. I'm still here so lucky the dirt at the edge of the road was firm.
The only vehicle to ever pass me while riding my 1000cc sports bike on the national highway was a v-hire. I was moving along at around 120 kph and this completely insane v-hire driver passes me like I'm sitting still...and I didn't see him coming in my mirrors. Scared the sh*t out me when that d*mn van just popped out of nowhere. I wanted to tell him he was an idiot and tried to keep up but he was taking corners at speeds that made me a bit nervous to do on a super sport. Ended up backing off as he was blowing through populated areas at well over 140 kph. That driver had absolutely no concern for his, his passengers or anyone else's lives. Driving like that in the US would not just get you a ticket, it would get you thrown in prison.
Imagine the most stupid idiotic moronic dangerous stunt performed by any of the locals on a motorbike at night high on Shabu with a bottle of Tanduay Rum under their belt and multiply that by 10X!! I never need to look out to know there is a V-Hire Van coming through Malatapay, you only need to listen for the incessant Horn Honking and HIGH SPEED WOOSH as it passes by along the Highway with everyone else hoking their horns back in retaliation!
For decades Ceres has been operating with less competition. A vague memory of that red bus Netran is all I can think of.
Are you talking about the Red glorified Jeepney type Bus that looks like it was imported from Jamaica? We have caught one several times from the Siaton Terminal to Malatapay, certainly is an eye opener, but is more comfortable than a Jeepney with its Fred Flintstone style seats!
Netran, Inc. during the pre-martial law period- Bacolod to Bayawan. I was wrong, it was before Ceres so it was not a rival/competition.
Yes. Vallacar Transit (VTI) - Wikipedia The first and oldest bus route was the coastal road passing San Carlos, Cadiz, etc which took 8 hours from Dumaguete although I have experienced the 'scary and risky' Mabinay route from Dumaguete to Bacolod in 1982.
