The Governing Council of the Cabildo of Lanzarote has given the green light this Tuesday to the initial approval of the Feasibility Study that will govern the new contract for the concession of the regular public transport service for passengers in Lanzarote, a tender that the island's president, Oswaldo Betancort, has described as "basic in this first half of our mandate, where we are going to plan a global expenditure of 288 million euros over the next 15 years, something that will radically change the island's transport network," he clarifies.
Betancort recalled that this new contract is also part of the strategy designed through the Island Plan for Sustainable Transport and Mobility of Lanzarote 2024-2031, a plan commissioned by the Institution "to move towards more efficient, more sustainable, more inclusive mobility, reducing the vehicle fleet on the island," the president stressed. Among the main objectives of this strategy is to continue increasing users by two million more and reduce the service time.
For his part, the Councilor for Mobility and Transport of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Domingo Cejas, explained that "the initial approval and public display of the Feasibility Study that will govern the contract, a proposal made by his department, is a prior regulatory requirement." The document must remain on display for a period of one month to receive possible claims or suggestions.
A milestone in the quality of service
Domingo Cejas explained that the new contract will represent "a milestone in the quality of service" of interurban public transport on the island as it will involve incorporating new services, more hours and stable schedules, more direct routes to gain competitiveness compared to the private vehicle, "which would translate into a saving of time and a new management model in which public intervention and control of the service is greater," the councilor specifies.
It should be remembered that on December 1, 2008, the Adaptation Contract of the Concession of Regular Road Passenger Transport of Lanzarote was formalized, between the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the company Arrecife Bus, S.L., whose concession had a duration until December 31, 2022. The new contract was not tendered in time and on December 28, 2022, the Insular Governing Council, in an extraordinary and urgent session, adopted the Agreement to authorize an Extension on an exceptional basis, under the same conditions in which it had been providing and until the award of the new contract.
"We found everything to be done"
The acquisition of eight new buses last year was one of the first steps of the current Government group to improve the "deficient interurban transport service that did not adapt to the demands of users," said Oswaldo Betancort, who acknowledges that "we found a blank canvas, where everything was to be done when we accessed to manage mobility in island public transport."
The president has referred to the need to continue training and finding new professional drivers to support stability in the provision of the service, and has recalled some of the improvements introduced in a few months such as the reinforcement of Line 62 in the afternoon, which allows connection with Playa Blanca from Arrecife every 30 minutes or the opening of new user service offices (one in the Arrecife Interchange and another in the Playa Blanca Bus Station, intended for the processing of vouchers and the recharging of them).
Also the implementation of the taxi-bus service in the municipality of Haría, the beginning of the works in the new Costa Teguise interchange and the extension of Line 22 that connects with the Airport, achieving a growth of more than 30% in just five months, among other innovations.
