User committees criticize disruptions in Carris Metropolitana schedule and frequency

Transport user committees have been reviewing the Carris Metropolitana service on the north bank of the Tagus since January, with many criticisms of the timing and frequency of services, but praising the renewal of the fleet.

“There is still some confusion and transport, in our opinion, has deteriorated in terms of waiting times, elimination of routes and mainly waiting times in blocks,” Lisbon Transport Users Commission (CUTL) spokeswoman Cecilia Sales told Lusa.

Carris Metropolitana has taken over public transport services for road passengers in 18 municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) – with intercity connections only in Barreiro, Cascais and Lisbon, which also have their own services – first on the south bank of the Tagus (in June and July 2022) , and then on the North Shore in January of this year.

“We don’t see any improvements, on the contrary, the directions of city blocks have not been increased, therefore, this means that at nine o’clock in the evening there is no transport to the outskirts, no buses to the city districts,” added Cecilia Sales.

The spokesman admitted that “adaptation will take some time” but pointed to the problem of private bus terminals and a “shortage of rolling stock, such as buses, and drivers”, with no positive changes.

According to the commission, the problems extend to the metro, which is “also experiencing great difficulties” and “even more difficult in the outskirts”, such as in Sakawema.

“It has improved significantly, it is now still insufficient for such a large municipality and I believe it is necessary to continue to invest. [em] more buses, more regularly, with greater ridership and intensity,” says Miguel Rato of the Sintra Line Users Commission (CULS), because “everything works during peak hours”, but at weekends and at night the offer needs to be strengthened.

A spokesman for the Sintra Line’s user commission said there had been a “significant change” in the transport provided, with quarries and destinations being re-numbered – although there had been some initial confusion, the situation had improved.

“There are still a lot of complaints, obviously the buses are very crowded, at peak times, at times of great affluence, there is a huge need, as I say, to reinforce this proposal,” he warned.

“We don’t just need public transport because it’s a fetish, we want public transport because, essentially, we need to change the lifestyle we lead, and a car is what we should prefer in the future,” he stressed. Miguel Rato, pointing out the need to increase investment in public transport.

For the representative, it is important to strengthen the fleet and have “more offers, more dynamics, more comfort, because traveling by bus or train is still very inconvenient, without efficiency, without this kind of offers and punctuality.”

The plan and budget of Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa (TML), which oversees Carris Metropolitana, states that “the estimated number of passengers for 2024 (about 663.5 million) is based on the assumption that there will be a progressive increase of 0.5 million people. % per month is a conservative scenario that forecasts lower growth than in the last two years due to the longer time lag compared to the implementation of inductive measures.”

Carris Metropolitana began its work in stages, first in the Setubal region, in 2022. In January 2023, it began in the so-called zone 1 (Viação Alvorada), in Amador, Oeiras and Sintra, as well as in connection with Cascais and Lisbon. and in zone 2 (Lisbon bus station) in Loures, Mafra, Odivelas and Vila Franca de Xira.

“October 2023 saw peaks in demand that brought us closer to 600,000 passengers per day and allowed us to see that this operation carries the largest number of passengers per day in the Lisbon metropolitan area,” the council said in a statement. The TML administration is confident that these numbers will “definitely improve and consolidate” next year.

Administrators Faustino Gómez, Ruy Lopo and Sonia Alegre highlighted among the projects for 2024 “the development of a solution for the use of bank cards on the Carris Metropolitana, the gradual simplification and de-bureaucratization of access to transport through Navegante +Agil and the Metropolitan Urban Plan and Sustainable Mobility as a tool for structuring urban mobility projects and transport.”