Enrique Arriaga (S/C de Tenerife, 1968), vice president of the Cabildo and leader of Ciudadanos (Cs), works to finish the road infrastructure “pending 30 years ago” and advocates public transport in buses and trams to promote a solution to the recurring collapses of traffic on the island’s roads. An advertising campaign, recently launched, aims to make citizens aware of the need for its use.
Your area launches a campaign with the aim of promoting the use of public transport. What does it consist of ?
The mottos are Do it for your senses and Move with sense. A play on words. On the one hand, it refers to moving knowing when, how and why, with responsibility and sustainability; on the other, it relates that mobility, in this case in the bus, with the senses. The one for smell (eliminate bad odors from fuel), flavors, sight (traffic jams), sounds… It will last three months.
What is the formula to convince citizens to leave their private vehicle at home and use public transport?
The fundamental pillar of mobility on the Island must be public transport. We cannot build roads indefinitely, even though there has been an infrastructure deficit for more than twenty years. Titsa must lead that bet. With Bus-Vao lanes (from 3 to 50 kilometers in this mandate) or preferential. With efficient buses, which reach all corners (shared transport and on demand), are fast and as cheap as possible. The recovery of passengers points to a new record in 2022, we have incorporated all forms of payment, including the bank card, which has been a success, and hired 170 new drivers. Along with the planned purchase of 101 new hybrid vehicles with the ten million remaining budget. Now let’s see how we can deal with it (he refers to the blocking of the spending of 126 million in the last plenary session, a rejection of the opposition that outrages him).
Will bus and tram fares drop?
The old model of renting in Titsa forces a third of the fleet to be returned in two years, more than two hundred buses. And we must replace them. It is a factor against as having to compensate the losses. There were 32 million in 2019 and 77 in 2020. To this we must add the growth in fuel prices. But we were already thinking of lowering the rates before the pandemic, although the main thing was to stabilize the company afterwards. The idea is still there and I think it could be feasible in the last quarter of the year. The discount for groups or residents is a good saving measure.
Announces two new interchanges in Los Cristianos and San Isidro. Assess your importance and that of the North.
We had to modernize the stations and we have done it in Buenavista and Granadilla, in addition to undertaking work in the La Laguna station, which is very deteriorated. We already have land for Los Cristianos and very soon there will also be in San Isidro. We will draft new projects to expand these interchanges, designed for trains, to buses. Starting in 2023, we hope to put the works out to tender. In the north the infrastructures are, One problem is that our dual carriageways, not motorways, have up to 30 direct accesses in 30 kilometres. The third rail is essential there.
The lines from Titsa to the North airport seem to be in good demand. Will they expand the aeroexpress to the South?
The aeroexpress have been a success and we are in the process of setting up a direct line to the Reina Sofía which will also prevent the 110 from going through there and speed it up.
Traffic collapse is a recurring problem on a daily basis, especially on TF-5 and TF-1. What is the solution to queues?
The ratio of almost one car per person on the Island is not sustainable. Too many vehicles and those infrastructures planned since 2005 without finishing. The closure of the Insular Ring and the rearrangement of the TF-5 at the height of La Laguna will resize the traffic and there will be a relief but insufficient. The only way to solve the traffic problem in Tenerife is to get cars off the road. For this, it is necessary to agree with the town councils the elimination of car parks in urban centers and promote public transport.
Detail the key projects for improving mobility.
One of them is to complete the section of the Buen Paso (Icod)-San Juan de la Rambla insular ring; then only the one from Los Realejos to La Rambla would remain. The other is to put an end to the bottlenecks in the surroundings of Padre Anchieta with three works: the pedestrian walkway, the burying of the TF-24 (La Esperanza road) and the modification of the interior roundabout with two shortcuts. Linked to the La Laguna ring road and the third lane from Los Rodeos to La Orotava that complete the map. Some will be before because the process of a work is long and there are no magic wands, it’s like a puzzle in which the pieces have to fit.
Pages such as Tenerife Vial denounce the presence of black spots on the roads.
We work on it together with the Civil Guard and the DGT. Space is limited, there are hardly any shoulders and applying national regulations is complicated. In this line, it is necessary to understand the resurfacing in the links of the TF-1 and TF-5 where we remove the old pitcher and recycle 50%. It will have a positive effect for traffic.
At what stage is the Insular Mobility Plan?
This document is fundamental as a strategic tool so that what has happened up to now does not happen again. It reveals the mobility needs between now and 2040 and all the parameters that surround it. How much population, where it is and how it moves. We are in phase 2 after the diagnosis and a survey with great citizen participation. Now the resolution proposals are being prepared and we hope to take it to the approval of the insular plenary session in the first half of 2023.
Does the future of the tram go through the extension to Los Rodeos even though the City Council of La Laguna opposes it?
Guided transport has to be implemented in Tenerife. It is not the solution but it will help. Both the South train and the expansion of the tram. The project for Los Rodeos already existed 15 years ago (July 2 is fulfilled) and we have taken it out again. The same as taking Line 2 to Las Galletas, something that has not had continuity, connecting with Añaza and Santa María del Mar or an urban axis from the Fairgrounds to the North Pier. They have been pending. for now
