The commencement of complimentary public transportation on January 1, 2023, in the Tenerife region has had a profound impact on bus and tram services. Last year, Titsa vehicles carried 70 million passengers (precisely 69,472,103), marking a 45% increase from 2022 when only discounts were in place. The overall rise in travelers amounted to 21.4 million. This increase has been consistent across all Titsa routes. In the metropolitan area (Santa Cruz, La Laguna, El Rosario, and Tegueste), the green buses transported 35 million passengers in 2023, which is 15.5 million more (a 40.2% increase) than the previous year.
The city service in the capital observed an addition of nearly 4.5 million travelers, reaching 13,891,652 (+46.5%). Meanwhile, the intercity service in Santa Cruz recorded a total of 3,080,606 passengers, an increase of over one million from 2022, translating to a 33% rise. The urban La Laguna service saw 1,344,930 travelers (+29.7%), and the interurban service of La Laguna expanded its user base by 29.8%, adding up to 1,038,031 in total.
Beyond the central zone, the Southern region exhibited the highest number of passengers, reaching 16.5 million (+31%), followed by long-haul lines with 10.3 million (+27.5%), and the North zone with 7.5 million (+35.5%). The top twenty lines in terms of usage in 2023 accounted for 35.7 million passengers, which represents 44.54% of the total users.
Line 014 (Santa Cruz de Tenerife Interchange-La Laguna Interchange through La Cuesta) experienced the highest increase in passengers last year, registering 1,178,946 more travelers, while 467 (Costa del Silencio – Los Cristianos-Costa Adeje-La Caleta) added 1,069,889 more passengers compared to 2022. The urban service line that observed the most significant surge in passengers was 905 (North Pier – Ofra), with an increase of 709,450 more passengers than the previous year.
In September of last year, Tenerife’s public transport extended the complimentary service, both on buses and trams. The minimum required trips to obtain the free voucher were reduced from 15 to 10. This initiative, announced by the Tenerife Council, responsible for managing the bus (Titsa) and tram (Metrotenerife) companies, came into effect last October. The island Government is currently contemplating further enhancements to these conditions so that the complimentary voucher can be obtained with 15 trips every three months. Although it is yet to be confirmed, it is assured that public transport will remain free throughout 2014.
Minister of Mobility, Eulalia García, expressed positive sentiments regarding the user data: «We hope to be able to retain a large portion of these new users and gradually witness a shift in the mobility patterns of the citizens». García emphasized that “the Cabildo is implementing a comprehensive set of measures to enhance and promote the usage of public transport.” Notable among these developments are line reinforcements, fleet modernization, and the recruitment of new drivers.
