The Covid-19 pandemic cannot paralyze the economy and it is necessary to adjust the "old normal" to the new. This is precisely what the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon (AML) and Porto (AMP) will do starting this November and over the next three months with the rental of tourist buses to companies that do not have them in use.
In the case of AML, there will be about 70 buses rented in a first phase, where "will serve to reinforce the railway network (CP and Fertagus) and the Metro Transportes do Sul (MTS), starting Wednesday, November 25, and will run daily for 62 days (except November 30, December 1, 7, 8 and 25, January 1 and February 16)".
The buses, which "that were not currently in circulation"will thus reinforce the services of CP, Fertagus and MTS that "for reasons of demand pressure and limited manning in the current pandemic scenario, justify a reinforcement of the transport capacity, capable of reducing the higher manning levels".
The distribution and operation of the buses in Lisbon will be as follows:
- support to CP and Metro de Lisboa: 36 buses for routes between Amadora CP station and Pontinha Metro, between 7am and 8:25am; and between Cacém CP station and Pontinha Metro, between 7am and 8:25am;
- support for Fertagus: 13 vehicles, that will make routes between Pragal and Sete Rios, between 6h20 and 8h20, and in the opposite direction between 17h20 and 18h10; and between Sete Rios and Setúbal, between 17h15 and 17h30;
- support for Metro Transports South: 22 car, on the Cacilha /Laranjeiro routes, between 4:30pm and 6:10pm; Laranjeiro/Cacilhas, between 7:20am and 8:10am; Universidade Nova/Pragal, between 4:30pm and 6:10pm; and Pragal/Universidade Nova, between 7:20am and 8:10am.
The initiative comes from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action and implies, for the two metropolitan areas, an investment of 1.5 million euros; for AML, it is about 750 thousand euros. According to Dinheiro Vivo, there is a maximum of 300 tourist buses to reinforce the supply in AML and a maximum of 200 buses in AMP.
"Services may, however, be adjusted depending on the contingencies inherent in the pandemic state"you can read in the AML press release.
