The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, announced this Tuesday in the town of El Golfo the launch of the Taxi Guagua service in the municipality of Yaiza, a few months after the premiere of this citizen service in Haría. This new initiative in terms of mobility, developed in collaboration with the Yaiza City Council and the group of taxi drivers in the southern municipality, aims to guarantee the travel of residents of towns that, until now, did not have access to intercity public transport.
The service will be operational from December 9 and will cover the towns of El Golfo, Playa Quemada, Las Breñas and La Degollada, connecting with the municipal capital of Yaiza and the island's transport network.
President Oswaldo Betancort has expressed his satisfaction with the expansion of this initiative: "This new step in the implementation of the Taxi Guagua reflects our commitment to the mobility and connectivity of all residents and users of Lanzarote, regardless of where they live. The experience in Haría has demonstrated the effectiveness of this service, and we are confident that it will have the same success in Yaiza. I thank the Yaiza City Council and the taxi sector for their involvement in this project that improves the quality of life of our neighbors."
A temporary, but effective solution
The Councilor for Transport and Mobility of the Cabildo, Domingo Cejas, has stressed that this initiative is part of the Island Mobility Plan and is designed to alleviate the shortcomings in public transport coverage while the new island concession is implemented: "The Taxi Guagua is a temporary, but effective solution that ensures the mobility of users in areas with low passenger numbers and where conventional transport is unfeasible. This model combines economic and social sustainability, while strengthening the taxi sector on our island."
Cejas recalled that the Taxi Guagua services developed by the current Government group in the Island Council will no longer be necessary when the new contract for the concession of the regular public passenger transport service in Lanzarote is awarded, an initiative that already has a feasibility study and that includes a global expenditure of 288 million euros over the next 15 years, "something that will radically change the island's transport network, increasing frequencies and reaching all population centers," the councilor clarifies.
The new Taxi Guagua service presented this Tuesday in El Golfo will be provided from Monday to Friday with a frequency of four daily expeditions from each town to the municipal capital, where users can connect with the regular lines to Playa Blanca, Puerto del Carmen or Arrecife.
Taxi rides to the capital will be free, while tickets to continue the journey by bus will have the usual cost.
Initiatives in terms of mobility
The initiative had already been implemented in the municipality of Haría, where it has facilitated the connection of towns such as Tabayesco, Ye or Guinate with the rest of the island network. After the positive results in the northern area, the extension to Yaiza brings the Cabildo closer to the objective of guaranteeing access to public transport to more than 99% of the island's population.
Betancort stressed that the proposal is open to all municipalities that have municipal taxi licenses and that want to join the model: "The Taxi Guagua not only improves connectivity, but also boosts the taxi sector, which plays a key role in the sustainable and accessible mobility that we want for Lanzarote."
For her part, the Councilor for Transport of Yaiza, Beatriz Vázquez, has remarked that this service "is a demand of the people of the municipality, who have been requesting it for some time." Now, "in collaboration with the Cabildo we have managed to be able to complete this project. We are going to see how this pilot test works and we hope that users have a good service," the councilor noted with respect to this new service that the population of El Golfo, La Degollada, Playa Quemada and Las Breñas will have.
"The Taxi Guagua service in Yaiza represents another milestone in the commitment of the Cabildo of Lanzarote to a more inclusive and efficient mobility, contributing to the social and economic development of the island," summarized Councilor Domingo Cejas.