Pedro Martín (PSOE) announces an agreement to buy 249 state-of-the-art buses for an amount of 88 million
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, May 16. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife and candidate for re-election for the PSOE, Pedro Martín, has announced an agreement with the University of La Laguna on Tuesday so that classes in the first three courses of the Faculty of Medicine begin at 10:00 a.m. in exchange for extra financing of two million euros.
In an electoral act to expose his party’s plans regarding public transport, he has said that the new schedule will come into force the next academic year and with these new resources the Faculty will increase its funds for research and execution of works once the agreement is signed. agreement between both institutions.
It has linked this agreement to the entry into force of Law 6/2022, of December 27, on climate change and energy transition of the Canary Islands, by which public and private universities are obliged to establish staggered start and end time plans of the activities that allow reducing the intensity of the traffic that is generated by its activity.
Martín has affirmed that this measure can contribute to alleviating the queues that occur on the TF-5 in the ‘rush hours’ of traffic, as well as continuing to promote the use of public transport, which in the first quarter has grown by 45% and 49% in Titsa and Metropolitano de Tenerife, respectively.
Along these lines, he has highlighted the “obvious commitment” of the PSOE to public transport, as evidenced by the fact that it is free in 2023, to which is added the agreement of the Governing Council of the Cabildo to acquire a total of 249 buses for an amount of 88 million and the hiring of workers in the Titsa company –230 more in 2022 alone– to face the increase in demand.
Martín has assessed that these are “latest generation” vehicles -70% are hybrids- which will mean a saving of 7 tons of CO2 that will stop being emitted into the atmosphere.
These units will be received during the years 2024 and 2025 and will allow the fleet to be expanded and all intercity vehicles over 10 years old to be renewed.
Thus, in 2024 a total of 145 units will arrive, among which there will be 6 long-distance interurban buses, 18 15-meter interurban vehicles, 45 of the 13-meter interurban units, 25 13-meter suburban units, 20 11-meter interurban units. , 7 suburban buses of 11 meters, 14 articulated suburban buses of 18 meters and 10 minibuses, while the remaining 104 units will arrive in 2025.
BUS-HOV LANES IN GÜÍMAR AND LAS CHUMBERAS
The president has also announced that the projects to promote two BUS-HOV lanes between Güímar and Santa Cruz de Tenerife and between Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Chumberas have already been drawn up, in such a way that work on the authorizations will begin shortly, and the signing of agreements with town halls to promote the development of urban transport, in the case of Candelaria. “And we want to sign more,” he commented.
On the complaints of some municipalities in the north with the construction project of the third lane of the TF-5, he has indicated that “it is necessary” to resolve traffic congestion but at the same time he has shown his willingness to meet with affected groups and municipalities – -for now Santa Úrsula and Tacoronte are dissatisfied– to “look for the best fit.”
In collaboration with the municipalities, the PSOE of Tenerife is also working to enable park-and-ride parking, for which it will be necessary to acquire bags of soil in those areas that are defined as necessary in the Insular Plan for Sustainable Mobility.
Likewise, the promotion of electric mobility on the island of Tenerife is another of the measures that the insular socialist team will implement by developing, in coordination with other public administrations, programs to promote the use of electric vehicles and the establishment of a Adequate and sufficient network of charging points for electric vehicles on the roads.