SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 19 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Canary Islands Minister of Public Works, Housing and Mobility, Pablo Rodríguez, along with the Director General of Transport, María Fernández, have convened the Land Transport Roundtable of the Canary Islands to demand the State cover the entire cost of free buses. This request is outlined in a letter jointly signed by the representatives of the seven island councils.
Pablo Rodríguez emphasised the unanimous petition to the Spanish Government “to bear the actual cost of free bus transportation, which amounts to approximately 140 million euros, exceeding the current funding received by the autonomous community by about sixty million euros.”
The minister highlighted that the general state budget, which has been extended, only allocates 81 million euros to cover “a genuinely extraordinary measure that significantly increased public transport usage, particularly buses.”
He noted that this amount is “wholly insufficient” as it was based on initial calculations without considering current passenger numbers. This situation is causing financial strain for island administrations and transport operators.
Director General of Transport, María Fernández, stressed the importance of implementing solutions to the islands’ mobility issues by promoting measures that encourage a positive shift towards sustainable mobility.
“The Land Transport Board, which represents various stakeholders including the private sector, public sector, trade unions, consumers, users, and public administrations, is the ideal platform to devise strategies that foster a shift in mindset towards more sustainable mobility, with reduced traffic congestion,” Fernández stated.
SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY LEGISLATION
Additionally, the meeting addressed the progress of the Draft Law on Sustainable Mobility in the Canary Islands and the forthcoming Decree Law adjusting Law 13/2007 on sustainable land passenger transport. These legal amendments, currently being prepared by the department, will soon be presented to the Government Council to gather perspectives from relevant sectors and further enhance mobility improvements.
Another agenda point was focused on the approach to reforming the 2007 law, either through a comprehensive legislative revision or partial amendments, as reported by the Ministry.
The consensus from the plenary is to pursue partial reforms, with the specifics to be determined in a future committee meeting later this year.
Moreover, the sector conveyed to the General Directorate of Transport their objection to a proposed legislation regulating professional transport and sustainable mobility, developed during the previous legislative term.
“The stakeholders support the current administration’s approach to separate and concurrently address the situations concerning professional transport and mobility,” Fernández concluded.
