The Municipal Budget proposal for 2023 was presented this Tuesday by the Vice-President and Alderman of Finance, Filipe Anacoreta Correia.
The Deputy Mayor of Lisbon and Alderman of Finance, Filipe Anacoreta Correia, presented this Tuesday the general lines of the next Municipal Budget, "a budget of change, corresponding to what was the will of the voters in Lisbon, and of great audacity, thinking about the future that we want for our city".
One of the areas in which the Lisbon Municipality plans to invest is in Mobility. For GIRA, the Lisbon Municipality foresees an investment of three million euros, an increase of 50% compared to 2022, to Reinforce the system with 29 new stations and 1000 bicycles. Filipe Anacoreta Correia explained that GIRA "must be subject to increased investment to accommodate supply to the demand it has been experiencing" and highlighted the recent inclusion of the bike-sharing network in the Navegante Pass for Lisbon residents who are students or over 65 years old. "This will lead to more people seeking GIRA and we have to strengthen the investment"explained the Finance Councilman. "So we are proposing to double what is already in the city in number of bicycles." Currently, the GIRA network has about 1600 bicycles, of which between 800-900 are usually available daily.
Besides new bicycles, the municipality foresees 20 new stations in 2023, as previously planned (the idea is an annual growth of the network in the order of two dozen new stations), and the opening of nine stations that are already owned by EMEL or installed on the ground. Thus, in total, the GIRA network will have 29 new stations next year.
Lisbon City Hall claims a 50% increase in investment in GIRA to three million in 2023, so it is assumed that the municipality will have spent about two million this year on the bike-sharing network. Note that, for 2022, EMEL, which manages GIRA, had budgeted only 405 thousand euros for GIRA, the largest slice of this investment for the purchase of bicycles. But, just on parts and components for bicycles already on the network and in need of repair, the municipal company ended up spending 656.5 thousand Euros recently, according to the Base portal - an investment to solve recent problems.
Bollards, streetcars and buses
Regarding other fields in the Mobility area, Carlos Moedas' executive foresees an investment of 186 million Euros between 2023 and 2026 in three broad areas:
- 17 million for bollards for cars (Pontinha North, Pontinha South, Lumiar/Azinhaga, Braço de Prata and Cidade Universitária), which were already planned in the previous mandates and were "an electoral commitment" of Coins;
- 60 million for expansion of the streetcar networkIn particular, the extension of Carris' streetcar line 15 to Santa Apolónia and Cruz Quebrada (Oeiras) - something that was also already planned, but that cannot be executed without the completion of the drainage works and without the new fleet (the new articulated streetcars are expected to start arriving between March and April next year);
- 109 million for renewal of Carris bus fleet88 new buses are expected in 2023 and a total of 342 by 2026. This renewal, already planned also in previous years and consisting of a gradual process, is expected to reach an "environmentally friendly" fleet of 76% by 2026 and 96% by 2030.
"The mobility challenges that the city has are greatly increased by the very relevant set of hundreds of cars that every day enter and leave the city. And we have to offer answers and alternatives so some of those cars may not get in"Anacoreta Correia contextualized, promising new investments in deterrent parks in the future in addition to the five already identified. The Chamber also shows "a strong commitment to investment in the area of transportation, linking it to sustainability"added the Finance Councilman, mentioning the commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030.
Free passes with more budget
In the field of Sustainability, the Vice President of the municipality highlighted the change of public lighting to LED lamps, the General Drainage Plan already in coursethe use of reused water in municipal parks, and the investment in Renewable Energy Communities for the decentralized production of photovoltaic solar energy. Still in the Sustainability area, Filipe Anacoreta Correia highlighted the free passes for students and over 65 years old residents in Lisbon with "an increase in the budget allocation" to 15.8 million because it is "a measure with great adhesion" (originally it was planned to spend 14.9 million euros a year until 2025 on the free passes).
Blue Hub moves forward in 2023
A final highlight in the Municipal Budget is related to the Blue Huba new space to host companies in the area of the sea and biotechnology that will give a new life to Pedrouços Dock, in Belém. This project integrates a larger intervention on the Lisbon/Oeiras waterfront, the Ocean Campus, with the Lisbon part expected to move forward in 2023 with the awarding of the project and start of construction, and a 37 million budget.
In 2023, the municipality expects an increase in revenue and to collect over the year 1.305 million euros - the same amount it expects for expenditure. In the field of investment, there will be an increase of 14% compared to 2022, highlighted Filipe Anacoreta Correia. The Municipal Budget will now have to go to a meeting of the City Council for discussion and approval by all councilors, including the opposition, and then to the Municipal Assembly. The detailed Budget document is not yet known, and the documents of the municipal companies - Carris, EMEL, SRU, EGEAC, and Gebalis - are also unknown. What was released today was only the outline of the Municipal Budget, which commands the budgets of each company.
You can download the PDF presentation and watch the broadcast below.
