ULPGC researchers design a tourist bus route in Lanzarote and defend its environmental benefits

The study concludes that emissions would be reduced by 15% if used by 20% of tourists who rent a car

November 23 2021 (18:34 WET)
Researcher at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Researcher at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Researchers from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have participated in a study for the design of a tourist bus route on the Island of Lanzarote using GIS (Geographic Information System).

The research work is based on the fact that public transport in Lanzarote is "underdeveloped" and, therefore, the possibility of it replacing private transport as the main means for tourist mobility on the Island is "scarce".

Thus, they have analyzed the possibility of establishing a bus route that connects all the tourist attractions of the Island in order to encourage the use of collective transport for tourist mobility, reducing the use of rental or private cars and, as a consequence, reducing the carbon footprint. In this sense, the report concludes that carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by 15% if only 20% of tourists who use rental cars started using that tourist bus.

In addition, they state that in a survey conducted at the entrance to the tourist attractions of the Island, "the good reception of transport of these characteristics was confirmed, as well as an excellent willingness to change the rental car for the tourist bus." The ULPGC highlights that this "means that tourism that comes to Lanzarote, which is a Biosphere Reserve, is very sensitive to issues related to Climate Change."

This work has been published as a scientific article in the international journal Sustainability, under the "Open Access" regime, which has an impact factor of 3.251, and is indexed in several lists such as JCR ranking: Q2, Environmental Sciences (SCIE): Q2 and Environmental Studies (SSCI): Q3, Green & Sustainable Science & Technology.

Its authors have been Roberto Rendeiro Martín-Cejas, from the Department of Applied Economic Analysis of the ULPGC; Rafael Suárez Vega, from the Department of Quantitative Methods in Economics and Management; and Pedro Pablo Ramírez Sánchez, from the Polytechnic School of Brussels of the ULB Free University of Brussels.

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