| Industry | Land Transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1968 |
| Key people |
Ricardo B. Yanson, Sr., President |
| Products | Shuttle Inter-City Tourist Local Transport |
| Employees | 7,500 |
| Website | www.vallacartransitinc.com |
Vallacar Transit Incorporated is the largest land transport company in the Philippines. It comprises Vallacar Transit, Inc., established in 1968, Rural Transit of Mindanao Inc. (RTMI), established in 1985, and Bachelor Express Inc., also established in 1985. This family-owned and managed business has grown from a lone 14-seater jeepney plying a single route, to a conglomerate of transportation companies with a combined number of operating units of a little almost 3000 transport vehicles as of January 2010, operating in nearly 80 percent of the bus routes in the Visayas and Mindanao regions as well as some part of Luzon in the Philippines. The company pioneered inter-modal services between Negros and Cebu, Mindanao and Leyte, and Panay and Luzon. It also pioneered inter-modal transport services utilizing the Strong Republic Nautical Highway from Cubao in Quezon City to Zamboanga City.
The company was founded in 1968 by Ricardo B. Yanson and his wife, Olivia Villaflores Yanson, beginning with the purchase of one jeepney unit. This effort ultimately became a jeepney-assembly business. In the early 70's, the market was flooded with Ford Fieras; the couple decided to diversify into a small bus line which plied the Bacolod City-Valladolid-La Carlota route (hence, Vallacar) and christened it Ceres Liner.
By 1980, Ceres Liner had covered the whole province of Negros and in 1981, they ventured into Mindanao. They bought out Fortune Express and Bachelor Express, both Cagayan de Oro-based bus companies in 1985, and formed Rural Transit of Mindanao, while retaining the name of the latter, as one of the conditions of the contract of sale. In 2005, the conglomerate bought out Lilian Express Inc. and sister company Mary May Express, its fiercest business rival and became the dominant transit company in the island of Mindanao. In 2007, its buses pioneered travel through the Western Nautical Highway.[1] Philtranco pioneered bus travel through the eastern nautical highway and is the only bus line running the Manila to Davao City route.
Today, the corporation presides over a transportation business with 7,500 direct and active employees, and 3,000 buses serving the island of Negros, Panay, Cebu, Samar-Leyte, Mindanao, and Batangas City.[2]