The Counselor Sebastian Franquis stressed yesterday that the bonus increased to 50% will mean an average cost of unlimited use transport vouchers of 10 euros per month. By islands they will cost 5 euros in La Gomera and El Hierro; 10 euros in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura; 12.50 euros in La Palma; 14 in Gran Canaria and 19 in Tenerife.
The head of Transportation stressed that the vast majority of users of both urban and interurban buses use one of the voucher modalities. According to the latest figures on the demand for regular transport buses, in the Canary Islands there are 113 million users of this modality, of which 103 million use a voucher.
This type of subsidy also generates concern among regular road passenger transport companies, since the current average occupancy is around 85% and reaching a 50% discount on bonuses will mean a notable increase in demand for which they are not prepared. the companies. “We have had meetings with the businessmen of the sector because we have to prepare the companies and the operators warn that the buses are what they are and the staff too, so if demand increases, workers have to be compensated in some way”. Franquis considers that from September 1 the service may be especially “complex” at very specific peak hours and is concerned that there is no capacity to meet this demand.
Faced with the doubts of the urban transport companies, Franquis said that the Canarian Government “defends” that this new 50% already committed state aid includes the Tenerife tram and also the urban transport that operates on each island of the Archipelago, an aspiration that he hopes will be reflected at the end of this month in the agreement that will be signed for this purpose so that the measure enters into force on September 1 and on which the details are still being negotiated.
The counselor recalled that in the Canary Islands there is urban transport, as is the case in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Arrecife or Santa Lucía, so the interpretation being made of the REF is wrong.
