The TML would prefer a metropolitan approach to free public transportation but stresses the Lisbon City Hall's "legitimacy" to go ahead with the measure, saying that lessons can be learned from it for when, in the future, a measure for the whole of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area is introduced.
"Nwould not have been our first choice"but "it's a benefit for people" and therefore has the support of Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa (TML). The statements were made by the president of TML himself, Faustino Gomes, at a press presentation event for Carris Metropolitana, which took place this Monday.
In response to a question from a journalist, Faustino Gomes commented that "Lisbon is working at a different speed" but pointed out that he has "all the legitimacy" for this. At a time when there is a move towards free public transport at metropolitan level, the president of TML said that it could be "learn lessons" than Lisbon did. Faustino Gomes said he would have preferred a metropolitan approach to transport and that, for example, it should have been free for everyone up to the age of 18, regardless of the municipality in which they live.
At the end of AprilThe Lisbon City Council unanimously approved free transportation for young students up to the age of 23 and over 65s, as long as they live in Lisbon (i.e. have a tax address in the city). The measure - which has already been approved by the Municipal Assembly - will be in force until at least 2025 and will have an estimated annual budget of 14.9 million eurosHowever, in this first year of 2022, it should cost 6.3 million. The Lisbon municipality expects the measure to come into force in June/July for older people and in September for students.
With the new measure, a young person who, for example, lives in Oeiras but studies in Lisbon will not be able to benefit from free transport, unless they change their tax address to the capital. On the other hand, a young person who lives in Lisbon and studies in campus of the NOVA University in Cascais will also be excluded from free tuition. Lisbon City Council will only offer the pass free of charge Navegante Municipalso the typology Metropolitan - best seller - It will continue to cost €30/month (for young students) or €20/month (over 65s). In practice, the students we mentioned in the previous examples will have to continue paying for their pass Metropolitan Navigatorunless they opt for Municipal to get around Lisbon and choose another mode of transport outside the city.
Some parties had suggested that the municipality share the difference in the value of the Metropolitan for MunicipalHowever, Moedas did not accept the amendment, promising to study the proposal later. One of the premises of the municipal budget for free transport is that half of the people who have the pass Metropolitan will migrate to the Municipal because it is now free.
In the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML), Cascais also has a policy of free public transport. In this municipality, the measure applies to all residents and includes only the buses of the MobiCascais municipal service. With an annual cost of around 12 million euros, the measure is fully supported by parking revenues and the Single Road Tax, according to the municipalityIn the first two years, it brought an increase of 10% in passengers.
The difference between Cascais and Lisbon is TML's relationship with the measure. Free travel in the capital will work through Navegante passes, which are managed by TML, which means that the measure will work not only on Carris municipal buses but on all public transport in the city. Every year, Lisbon City Council will pay TML the amount that people who benefit from the free service would pay for their passes. In the case of Cascais, the gratuity does not involve TML, since MobiCascais is a company of that municipality.
