The Council of Tenerife It will have to spend 60 million euros this year to balance the deficit of the public buses of Transportes Interurbanos de Tenerife SA (Titsa). This quantity equivalent to 5% of the insular budget (874 million), added companies and public entities. They are the calculations of the Mobility adviser and president of the company, Enrique Arriaga. If this amount that the Island Corporation has to pay to maintain the public lines is divided among each Tenerife resident (927,000 inhabitants), it would be up to 65 euros per year for each.
The also vice-president of the institution recalls that “last year it was a similar amount and another ten million must be added to this to compensate for the losses of the Metropolitano trams.” This economic item is similar to that of the Municipal Cooperation Plan 2022-2025 with the 31 municipalities of the Island, which indicates the magnitude of the expense. Arriaga values the commitment to maintain jobs and even increase them in a workforce of more than 1,800 people. An example is the hiring of drivers, up to 107 new drivers –77 consolidated and 73 temporary– for six months. Also the renovation of a bus fleet of 600 vehicles.
Arriaga clarifies that “public transport is not economically profitable anywhere in the world, nor does it have to be.” But he points out that “the value is in what it can generate in savings by mitigating the collapse of the roads, since it encourages people to leave the private vehicle at home.” “The citizen has to understand that lowering the rate is always equivalent to having to invest more public money,” he stresses. Another fact explains the high cost of public transport for the island’s public coffers: If all the Titsa lines were free, the Cabildo would have to face an annual expense of at least 145 million, 10% of the entire insular budget this year.
The Cabildo expected this year to maintain the price of these rates despite the rise in energy bills and fuels. Then he reserved 10 million to guarantee the drop in bonuses by 34% from 2023. Now he will allocate an amount, which will be repaid later, to reach a 50% bonus for the next four months and thus comply with the savings measure of the state government. Beyond December 31, the guarantee has been given to maintain the discount at least at that 34%.
Regarding the recent announcement by the Cabildo de La Palma to face the 100% discount, the Tenerife councilor is blunt: “A movement of two million passengers, as they have there, has nothing to do with our 60 million.” Arriaga also responds to criticism about a more expensive bond price than in Gran Canaria: “Operating costs are completely different. There, 80% of the population resides in the Las Palmas-Telde conurbation, while here it is much more dispersed, with important nuclei both in the South and in the North. The long runs are much more important than the short ones.”
The Island Mobility area allocates a large part of its budget to balance the overall deficit of Titsa and Metrotenerife, the two major public transport operators in Tenerife. In both cases, the sale of tickets does not cover expenses, barely reaching 55% of the total. Councilor Enrique Arriaga details that almost 54 million are dedicated to promoting and improving public transport on the Island with the increase in staff, the purchase of a new fleet of buses, most of them sustainable –101 in total, 95 hybrids– and the improvement of interchanges and stops.
145 million euros
The calculation of the company is that the total free access to buses would cost the island coffers 145 million euros, more than 10% of the budget.
60 million passengers
Forecasts suggest that by the end of the year, the 2019 record will have been broken and more than 60 million passengers will have passed on the island’s bus lines.
36.8% Growth in one year
From one August to another, the accumulated number of Titsa passengers increased by 7,847,548, 36.8%, going from 31,323,836 to 39,171,384. The most real reference is 2019 due to the pandemic.
Last year, buses and trams recorded 48.35 million passengers. Titsa transported 36.55 and Metrotenerife another 11.7. One of the objectives is to recover the number of travelers from 2019, before the pre-pandemic, which almost reached 60 million. The trend invites optimism and it is almost certain that this figure will be exceeded before the end of this year. Mobility also works in other fields. For example, in vao bus lane projects; that is, enabled for public transport and vehicles in which more than one person circulates. They will go from the current 3.5 kilometers to fifty in the medium term.
Arriaga highlights the launch of the option to pay for buses with a bank card. “A great advance”, he values. New interchanges are planned in Los Cristianos and San Isidro, in addition to improvements in those of Buenavista, Granadilla and La Laguna. In the latter case, to enable access from the future Padre Anchieta footbridge. One of the priority objectives is the development of the Island Plan for Sustainable Mobility. The document will analyze current and future infrastructures or the projection of the population and employment in the next twenty years.
The number of passengers on intercity lines has increased by 4.7% so far in 2022 compared to 2019. They have exceeded 21 million with a growth of 950,000. Arriaga warns about the difficulties to face an unexpected demand with discounts. But he maintains his commitment to public transport with direct and fast lines. The most profitable lines are not always those with the most passengers (attached table) but those that least coincide with the urban lines of Santa Cruz and La Laguna. Aguere prepares a study to improve them with the help of Titsa’s Big Data. And Santa Cruz is at the beginning of that path.
The lines with the most Titsa passengers
014 The Lagoon by La Cuesta
Line that, with the tram, is key in the mobility of the Metropolitan Area. La Cuesta –50,000 inhabitants– revalues it. It moved 1,847,418 passengers,
467 Nuclei of the South
Employees in the services and tourism sectors, from the country or not, usually take it near their home to go to work. There were 1,521,228 on the Costa del Silencio-Las Galletas-Los Cristianos-Costa Adeje-La Caleta route.
110 S/C-Costa Adeje (direct)
From the Interchange to Costa Adeje without stops except for the nodes of San Isidro (very populous) and Los Cristianos. A total of 1,157,149 passengers.
015 Direct to Aguere
It joins Santa Cruz and La Laguna by the North Highway, the TF-5. Used by ULL students. It moved 993,224 passengers.
473 The Christians-The Giants
Another interior line from the south with a lot of movement. As many as 779,266 people have traveled from origin to destination, after passing through Costa Adeje and Callao Salvaje.
111 S/C-Costa Adeje with stops
Twin of the 110 but with stops along the Highway, the TF-1. It was boarded by 761,421 travelers.
122 Santa Cruz-Candelaria
A total of 638,408 people moved on this line with a stop in Las Caletillas, one of the dormitory towns in the capital of Tenerife.
363 Puerto Cruz-Buenavista
The busiest in the north with the claim of Masca and Punta de Teno with a stop at Icod de los Vinos and its thousand-year-old Drago. It transported 633,418 users.
101 La Laguna-La Orotava
The bus of the towns stops in all of the north on its route along the general highway. It was used by 586,837 passengers.
51 Circular La Laguna
It joins Aguere with Tegueste, Tejina and Tacoronte –and back–. The resource for the transport of 570,713 people from Tenerife.
