The Municipal Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, under the Department of Mobility, plans to dedicate more than 30 million euros from its own budget towards updating the current fleet of urban buses for the public entity Transportes Interubanos de Tenerife (Titsa), as part of a multi-year investment scheme. This year, the total budget will reach 10.4 million euros, according to the council member responsible for the portfolio, Evelyn Alonso.
Alonso outlined that this initiative is a key component of the strategies devised by the municipal department to enhance the efficiency of urban public transportation. A substantial aspect of the plan involves “procuring 60 new hybrid, plug-in, or electric buses by 2029, ultimately aiming to modernise the current fleet.” The goal is to advance road sustainability and diminish the existing carbon footprint within the capital.
Furthermore, Alonso elaborated that this project will necessitate the extension of the Santa Cruz Interchange, for which an adjacent site will be purchased, located at the corner of the Isla de Mar terrace, to accommodate the hybrid buses. “The financial responsibility for the site will lie with the Titsa company, and the City Council will collaborate in its adaptation to transform this new area into a parking and recharging zone for the novel urban transport vehicles.”
Conversely, the city council of Santa Cruz will introduce measures this year to streamline public mobility. As stated by the Mobility Councillor, “the upcoming open tender and awarding of technical assistance services for public transport in Santa Cruz will entail auditing the present urban fleet to determine necessary line adjustments or reinforcements, irrespective of the data provided by Titsa.”
This drive towards sustainable transport is allocated almost 83 million euros in the city’s 2024 municipal budget. Additionally, the existing contract with Titsa for supplying municipal urban passenger transport services, which this year amounts to 12.6 million euros, will be revised.
Cab
In terms of public taxi services, the council member announced that this year, the strategic plan to bolster the competitiveness of public metered passenger transport will be launched. This initiative involves progressing with the retrieval of 37 more licences in the city. “An allocation of 1.5 million euros has been set aside for this effort, with the City Council contributing 700,000 euros and the Cabildo providing the remaining 600,000 euros,” she emphasised.
In this context, she recalled that “the multi-year inter-administrative agreement is intended to withdraw 151 taxi licences from the city, in accordance with a study conducted at the City Council’s request, which has been communicated to the Taxi Board on multiple occasions.” Hence, the council member specified, “this approved agreement with the Consortium constitutes an expenditure of 5,587,000 euros, with the City Council and the Corporation channelling 3,072,850 euros and 2,514,150 euros, respectively, by 2026.”
Alonso highlighted that “taxi drivers failing to complete the requisite procedures to terminate licence exploitation will not receive the corresponding compensation, estimated at 37,000 euros per licence.” She emphasised that “strict adherence to the stipulations will enable the taxi sector to better align with the recommended ratios in the study commissioned by the council.” She further added, “This initiative will offer financial stability to a sector that weathered turbulent times during the pandemic, allowing it to approach the future with optimism and ensuring the number of licences aligns with the mobility provision essential as a public service for citizens.”
Accessible Transport
Another focal point in the Mobility department’s 2024 budget agenda involves extending new subsidies for the transformation of taxi services to support People with Reduced Mobility (PMR). A sum of 105,000 euros will be dedicated to aiding the sector in acquiring new or adapted taxis to enhance transport for users with disabilities.
The PMR-adapted taxi services will benefit from grants of up to 15,000 euros per vehicle, alongside 3,000 euros for inspections, ensuring enhanced accessibility for all passengers.
