EDSA Carousel Guide (2023)

Je Javier -

Sakay.ph is here to provide you with the latest fares, schedule, bus stops and some useful tips regarding the EDSA Carousel Busway program.

The EDSA Carousel is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Metro Manila, Philippines. It has an exclusive right-of-way called the EDSA Busway, which is a dedicated lane for buses separated from normal road traffic by concrete barriers.

On January 2023, the EDSA Carousel's Libreng Sakay (free ride) program ended. All riders must now pay fees when boarding the bus service. As the resumption of the Libreng Sakay program has not yet been determined, many of you are likely curious about the cost of the rides. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has released the complete fare matrix for both northbound and southbound travels.

You can refer to the tables below for the full fare matrices.

The southbound bus route (Monumento to PITX) has 23 stops and the prices range anywhere from PHP 15.00 to PHP 75.50.

Scroll to the right ➡ to see the rest of the table.

ORIGIN Monumento Bagong Barrio Balintawak Kaingin Roosevelt North Avenue Quezon Avenue Nepa Q. Mart Main Avenue Santolan Ortigas Guadalupe Buendia One Ayala Tramo Taft Avenue Roxas Boulevard MoA DFA/Starbucks Ayala Malls Manila Bay PITX
Monumento - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.75 19.25 23.50 28.00 29.75 36.50 42.75 48.00 50.25 58.75 59.50 62.00 64.25 68.00 71.75 75.50
Bagong Barrio - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.75 20.00 24.50 26.25 33.00 39.50 44.75 47.00 55.25 56.25 58.50 61.00 64.75 66.75 70.50
Balintawak - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 18.25 22.75 24.50 31.25 37.50 42.75 45.00 53.50 54.25 56.75 59.00 62.75 65.00 68.75
Kaingin - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 16.25 20.75 22.50 29.25 35.75 40.75 43.25 51.50 52.50 54.75 57.25 60.75 63.00 66.75
Roosevelt - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 18.50 20.25 27.00 33.25 38.50 40.75 49.25 50.00 52.50 54.75 58.50 60.75 64.50
North Avenue - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.75 22.50 28.75 34.00 36.25 44.75 45.50 48.00 50.25 54.00 56.25 60.00
Quezon Avenue - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 19.00 25.50 30.75 33.00 41.25 42.25 44.50 47.00 50.50 52.75 56.50
Nepa Q. Mart - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 21.00 26.25 28.50 37.00 38.00 40.25 42.75 46.25 48.50 52.25
Main Avenue - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 20.00 22.25 30.75 31.50 34.00 36.25 40.00 42.25 46.00
Santolan - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.75 24.00 25.00 27.25 29.75 33.25 35.50 39.25
Ortigas - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 17.50 18.50 20.75 23.25 27.00 29.00 33.00
Guadalupe - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.50 18.00 21.75 23.75 27.75
Buendia - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.75 19.50 21.50 25.50
One Ayala - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 17.00
Tramo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 16.00
Taft Avenue - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00
Roxas Boulevard - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00
MoA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00
DFA/Starbucks - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00
Ayala Malls Manila Bay - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00
PITX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

There are 19 stops for commuters travelling north. The cheapest fee that will be charged is also PHP 15.00, while the longest trip (from PITX to Monumento) will cost PHP 73.00.

Scroll to the right ➡ to see the rest of the table.

ORIGIN PITX City of Dreams DFA Roxas Boulevard Taft Avenue Ayala Buendia Guadalupe Ortigas Santolan Main Avenue Nepa Q. Mart Quezon Avenue North Avenue Roosevelt Kaingin Balintawak Bagong Barrio Monumento
PITX - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 24.00 26.50 31.50 38.00 44.75 46.50 51.25 55.50 59.00 63.50 65.75 67.75 69.50 73.00
City of Dreams - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 17.75 20.00 25.00 31.50 38.25 40.00 44.75 49.00 52.50 57.00 59.25 61.25 63.25 66.50
DFA - - - 15.00 15.00 16.25 18.50 23.75 30.25 36.75 38.75 43.50 47.75 51.00 55.50 58.00 60.00 61.75 65.25
Roxas Boulevard - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.75 21.00 27.50 34.25 36.00 40.75 45.00 48.50 53.00 55.25 57.25 59.00 62.50
Taft Avenue - - - - - 15.00 15.00 18.75 25.25 31.75 33.75 38.50 42.75 46.00 50.50 53.00 55.00 56.75 60.25
Ayala - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.50 22.25 24.00 29.00 33.25 36.50 41.00 43.50 45.25 47.25 50.50
Buendia - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 20.00 21.75 26.50 30.75 34.25 38.75 41.25 43.00 45.00 48.25
Guadalupe - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 16.75 21.50 25.75 29.00 33.75 36.00 38.00 39.75 43.25
Ortigas - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 19.25 22.75 27.25 29.50 31.50 33.25 36.75
Santolan - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 16.00 20.50 22.75 24.75 26.75 30.00
Main Avenue - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 18.75 21.00 23.00 25.00 28.25
Nepa Q. Mart - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 16.25 18.25 20.00 23.50
Quezon Avenue - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.75 19.25
North Avenue - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.75
Roosevelt - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00
Kaingin - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00 15.00
Balintawak - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00 15.00
Bagong Barrio - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.00
Monumento - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The prices are calculated based on a basic fare of PHP 15.00 for the first five (5) kilometers of travel, plus PHP 2.65 for each extra kilometer. Rounding is done to the nearest PHP 0.25. Students who use the bus still qualify for a fare discount of at least 20% of the "approved adjusted fare everyday," including Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays.

When using the busway, it's definitely helpful to keep a copy with you as well so you can estimate your expenses.

Or let us do the math! Download the Sakay.ph app for iPhone and Android. Tell us your destination, and we'll let you know which buses to take and how much the price will be.

While the busway is operational 24/7, the number of bus units that are available depends on a bus company's operating hours. Commuters can expect waiting lines at some stops due to the lower number of available rides especially at wee hours (between 1:00 AM and 4:00 AM).

Check out EDSA Carousel at our Route Explorer👇👇👇

Sakay Route Explorer

SOUTHBOUND

NORTHBOUND

Despite being aligned with the Metro Railway Transit (MRT), it does not have stops along Magallanes, Boni Avenue, and Shaw Boulevard. It is advised that passengers who intend to travel to these places take the MRT instead.

Depending on the passenger volume, buses may skip the Mall of Asia (MoA) stop. If you're southbound and headed to MoA, make sure to let the conductor know, or you may miss the stop!

If you're coming from MoA and heading towards north, you’ll need to head southbound first. Here are your options:

💡
Option 1: From MOA, ride the EDSA Carousel bus to Ayala Malls Manila Bay, cross to the other side, and board the northbound bus at City of Dreams. Check out the route here. 
💡
Option 2: Drop off at PITX and take the next bus to Monumento. View the route right here

EDSA Busway Complaints

For concerns and inquiries, commuters can send an official email to the LTFRB official email (complaints@ltfrb.gov.ph).  Be sure to include your name, contact information, the date and time of the incident, and the bus plate number.

Providing supporting details will also be helpful, such as a photo or video.

Observations and Experience

Since the stations are in the center of EDSA, most people need to pass through the MRT stations to get there. Some passengers may find it difficult to navigate as the stairs can get quite high and there is no working manlift or elevator for the elderly, people with disabilities, and others to easily get to and from the bus stop.

Once we were able to get inside the bus, we asked the conductor about the new fares and he said that they themselves are still getting used to it given that the Libreng Sakay ran for quite some time. We were able to see that the fare matrix were posted inside the bus.

Some buses also advertise that they accept BEEP as a mode of payment but the bus we rode did not have a working device. It may still be best to always bring your spare coins because we cannot always guarantee it is not guaranteed that the scanner will function.

We also asked if bikes are allowed on the bus, and the conductor told us that bikes could be placed in this area:

Another good thing is that our pets 🦮 are also allowed provided they wear diapers.

The bus ride was quite fast as well. It may actually be faster than the MRT as it doesn’t have to stop at all of the stations if there are no passengers alighting or to be picked up. It didn’t take that long for us to arrive at our destination. We timed our trip from North Avenue to Ortigas station and recorded a travel time of 14 minutes!

However, keep in mind that during rush hour, the journey may be slower and there may be longer wait times at certain stops, depending on the number of people travelling.

Conclusion

The EDSA Carousel system has a lot of potential for improving public transportation in the city. It may not be perfect but we hope that this system would be made better so as to benefit not only our commuting public, but the entire Metro Manila as well.

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Sources: LTFRB website, EDSA Carousel Update Facebook