The threat of a strike by bus drivers on Lanzarote's intercity transport is not surprising when contrasting the enormous increase in passengers in recent years with the measures implemented by Intercity Bus to compensate for it.
The public transport service of intercity buses in Lanzarote has 25.4% more passengers per year since the central government introduced free public transport, according to statistics published by the Lanzarote Data Center.
On the island, the decision translated into a 100% discount on season tickets and multi-trip tickets associated with the Canarian Resident Bonus (BRC) and its modalities.
In 2022, the volume of passengers on Lanzarote's intercity buses increased by more than 2.2 million, from 2.9 million passengers in 2021 to 5.1 million in 2022, but the data for that year is strongly influenced by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, which were still very present in 2021.
In contrast, a comparison between the data for 2023, with full implementation of free transport, and that of 2019, without restrictions on tourism, offers more realistic figures.
If in 2019 the intercity buses were taken by 4.9 million passengers, in 2023 this number rose to 6.6 million, which is equivalent to a 25.4% growth in passengers. Thus, packed buses with numerous passengers traveling standing have become common sights.
According to sources from the transport department of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, "the free transport did not translate into an increase in the number of vehicles available or improvement of the lines" of Intercity Lanzarote.
Instead, what the company did was reduce the daily and weekend breaks of the drivers. The daily break went from thirty minutes to just fifteen in a period of eight hours. Thus, workers barely have time to perform basic hygiene or feeding functions without designated facilities for it.