The Santa Cruz City Council, led by the Mobility department under the direction of Evelyn Alonso, has released a decree confirming the continuation of free conditions for regular users of urban public transport within the municipality for 2025. This decision aligns with the agreement made by the Governing Council of the Cabildo of Tenerife, which established on December 27, 2024, the maintenance of these free transport conditions across the Island.
With the enactment of this decree, the City Council assures that starting January 1, 2025, frequent users of the bus services in the capital will benefit from complimentary urban transport. Frequent users are defined as those making a minimum of trips on the buses, specifically 30 trips each quarter to qualify for free journeys. This initiative encourages public transport usage, evidenced by historical figures for Santa Cruz, boasting over 15 million passengers reported in urban transport up to November, a remarkable achievement representing an 18% rise compared to the previous year.
The success of this initiative by the City Council regarding urban public transport “demonstrates the effectiveness of this Corporation’s commitment to public transport, with new routes, schedules, and frequencies that enhance mobility, improve access to the city, and reduce CO emissions2,” stated the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez.
Bermúdez emphasised, “We persist in our commitment to promote urban collective transport in the city, with an annual investment exceeding 13 million euros.” He also noted that “this figure is supplemented by additional funding for enhancements related to increased frequencies, schedules, and new night services, resulting in an extra 690,000 euros per year, along with newer, more environmentally-friendly buses and ongoing fleet renewal, thereby positioning us as the municipality that allocates the most resources to urban public transport in the Canary Islands.”
In this context, Evelyn Alonso highlighted the total of 15,007,134 passengers from January to November, marking an 18% increase in users compared to the same timeframe last year; this translates to 2,304,976 citizens opting for public transport for their journeys. She added, “Therefore, we must persist in promoting public transport, a key focus of this department, which has been demonstrated in 2024 through the adaptation of services to meet the needs expressed by users and communicated to the Titsa company.”
The lines with the most passengers include the 905, 934, and 936, each surpassing two million passengers annually.
