The story
JAC (Jaime A. Chua) Liner, owned by the Chua Family, began operating in April 1987 as a sole proprietorship operating second hand buses. The owner's family backyard lot functioned as the company's repair garage and head office.
In 1988, JAC Liner acquired eight additional second-hand buses from other bus operators. These were rehabilitated and made operational. A year after, they were assisted by the Bus Installment Purchase Program (BIPP), a program that would allow them to purchase buses on installment basis which allowed them to purchase 26 new buses and was granted to have additional franchises along EDSA.
In March 1992, they were formally incorporated as JAC Liner. Two years later, they moved their operations to the Southern Tagalog region, where it established itself as one of the largest bus companies in the country.
In 2004, the founders decided to go on semi-retirement and passed on the day-to-day management of the company to their children while retaining long-term policy-making functions of the corporation. In December of that same year, JAC Liner formed their first subsidiary, Lucena Lines, with a fleet of around 60 buses.
In 2010, JAC Liner bought the Tarlac City-based company Dionisio R. De Leon Express and established Pangasinan Solid North Transit. From 30 or so bus units, Pangasinan Solid North expanded their fleet size up to around 150 bus units. In 2011, JAC Liner became the first bus company in the country to offer free WiFi on board through a partnership with the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company.
In March 2014, JAC Liner took over the Santa Cruz line of Green Star Express. Months later, JAC Liner acquired the whole franchise of Greenstar and their remaining buses were transferred to Lucena Lines, but they retained some units under the Green Star Express name.
In 2015, JAC Liner took over the Dagupan Bus Company and the provincial operations of Fermina Express, which had a total of 300 buses combined. The company also debuted a new city bus subsidiary, Metro Manila Bus Company, with routes from Baclaran to Fairview via EDSA and Quezon Avenue.
In 2021, JAC Liner acquired JAM Liner and JAM Transit to expand their route network.
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In 2023, JAC Liner took over Pacita-based Cher Transport, which was among the list of well-known bus companies in Metro Manila. The latter's bus units and routes were later integrated into Metro Manila Bus Company, expanding its operations as far as Balibago, Santa Rosa, Laguna.
In 2025, JAC Liner subsidiary Pangasinan Solid North Transit had its operations suspended for a month after one of its buses namely PSNTI bus no. 1513, a Dagupan Bus Co. unit operating under PSNTI caused a multiple-vehicle collision at the SCTEX toll plaza in Tarlac City, killing 10 people and injuring 37 others, with initial investigations suggesting the bus driver fell asleep. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) initially issued a 30-day suspension for 15 specific units of Dagupan Bus Co., which was quickly followed by a Department of Transportation (DOTr) order suspending the entire fleet of Pangasinan Solid North Transit, encompassing nearly 300 buses. The same year, the remnants of Dagupan Bus's units were gradually integrated into the expanding operations of Solid North Transit, together with more than a dozen units from Victory Liner's former Caloocan - Dagupan and Cubao - Dagupan routes. JAC Liner and their subsidiaries also introduced daily pet-friendly schedules on all routes for the convenience of their pet-carrying commuters riding their buses.
From Wikipedia’s article on JAC Liner, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4