Free public transportation has caused crowding on bus lines. Titsacompany of the Cabildo of Tenerife which provides bus service on the island and which receives a lot of criticism for the overcrowding of users on its routes. OROne of the causes of this saturation is the entry into force, on January 1, of free public transportas long as the traveler uses the service at least 15 times during the month prior to the voucher renewal.
Given this, the president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, presented last Friday the progress of the Sustainable Mobility Plan, which establishes the promotion of public transport as a fundamental measure. He stated that “There are very urgent solutions to promote the use of the bus and the tram». Along these lines, he announced that “in the next two weeks several lines will be reinforced to avoid this crowding of people first thing in the morning.”
The document points out the need to «encourage the use of public transport». In this way, there is a special commitment to advance the restructuring of the network and to adapt the bus service to users with greater flexibility. «It is not only the commitment to more public transport but the imperative need to change habits and have a more rational modal distribution. A new mobility model that requires fewer movements», reflected the island president.
Dávila confirmed that there are more than thirty small measures that will improve circulation, such as interventions at the Padre Anchieta roundabout and the Guamasa accesses. These improvements will be implemented over the coming weeks and “will be fundamental in alleviating the situation of transport collapse.”
Fernando Davararesponsible for the Mobility Technical Unit in the Cabildo, clarified that «This plan is a strategic document“, and “After this phase, in which the alternatives are proposed, it becomes a management document to be able to apply them». Likewise, he provided data on mobility on the Island and stated that “every day there are more than three million trips, distributed between 7% of tourists and the rest, residents.” He specified that “of the percentage of local users, 80% travel by private vehicle and only 6% do so by public transportation.”
September brought a return to routine for many citizens who return from vacation and need public transportation to go to their jobs or their respective educational centers. That has collapsed several Titsa lines. Social networks serve as loudspeakers today and many users affected by this situation use them as a tool to demand a solution.
One of the most insistent passengers in the face of this saturation is Yaiza Rodríguez, who since November of last year has already reproached these collapses in her profile. Along these lines, last Wednesday the passenger expressed another criticism in her profile: «20 people standing since 6:45 in the morning with more than half of the route to go. We have been in this situation for a year and the Cabildo still has not reinforced this line. A day later, Yaiza Rodríguez published more images early in the morning in which, once again, a crowded bus was seen heading towards Santa Cruz. «The driver said to get together so he could load more people. We must continue to pressure so that we stop being treated like cattle,” said the user through her personal account.
But she is not the only one who is dissatisfied with Titsa’s service. Ana Cepero, another passenger, stated that “I filed a complaint for a basic urban line that runs every 20 minutes. They left me on the ground due to full capacity and it took almost an hour longer to get to my house, which is four kilometers from my work. “This is unfeasible.”
This overcrowding not only affects workers, but also university students. The University of La Laguna (ULL) is a space where more than 22,000 students meet daily, something that is reflected in the frequent collapse of the roads. The vice-rector of the ULL, Candela Díaz, valued the “importance of having a mobility plan and the coordination meetings that are being held.” Several students also alluded to collapses on other lines. «On 108, 102 and 103 they leave more than 30 people outside every day who leave class at 8:15 p.m. With these crowds we arrived home after 10:30 p.m. and they still haven’t reinforced them,” she explained.
The problem in data
Statistics corroborate user protests. According to the latest official figures published by Titsa, which takes as reference an entire year since September 6, one of the most saturated lines throughout this year is the 369. This bus could be considered tourist since it travels from the station from Buenavista to Punta de Teno.
Among the 185 routes of the public bus transportation service on the Island, eleven exceeded one million passengers this year. Among those that exceeded seven figures is 015, which makes the direct route from the Santa Cruz Interchange to the La Laguna Interchange, which positions it as the line with the highest percentage of growth compared to 2022, with 53%.
In that classification, it is followed by 122, with 52%, which links Candelaria and the Interchange of the Tenerife capital, the line about which several users have complained in recent days. The main problem with this is that it covers three municipalities (Candelaria, El Rosario and Santa Cruz), which includes towns in which a large part of the population has jobs in Santa Cruz or La Laguna. The number of passengers increased from 674,775 to 1,028,196. The line that connects Puerto de la Cruz with Buenavista del Norte (363) registers an increase of 51%, as well as the 467, between Costa del Silencio (Arona) and Caleta de Adeje.
The line that transports the most passengers is 014, with 2,713,296 passengers. 39% more than last year, which almost totaled two million. Its route is between both interchanges, starting in Santa Cruz de Tenerife along José Hernández Alfonso, Miraflores, Avenida Ramón and Cajal streets; Serrano, Álvarez de Lugo, Goya streets; Avenues of Belgium, Islands Canary Islands (Cruz del Señor) and Ángel Romero; the Santa Cruz-La general highway through La Cuesta, Avenida de Los Menceyes, Ángel Guimerá Jorge street and Intercambiador de La Laguna.
