Five municipalities on the Alentejo coast will provide free public transport to the beaches

Five municipalities on the Alentejo coast will provide free public transport to ten of the region’s beaches in July and August as part of a pilot project to reduce car traffic in bathing areas.

The project developed by the Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alentejo Litoral (CIMAL) starts this Saturday and aims to connect the headquarters of the municipalities of Alcácer do Sal, Grandola, Santiago do Casem, Sines in the Setúbal and Odemira (Beja) districts to ten places for swimming.

“Seven lines will operate in July and August, using buses from Transportes do Alentejo Litoral, linking the five council headquarters that make up CIMAL to the bathing areas,” the inter-municipal community explained in a statement.

The service, he said, will be provided “on weekdays and weekends several times a day to provide an alternative to private cars.”

According to CIMAL, road routes will connect the city of Alcácer do Sal and Comporta beach, between the city of Grandola and the beaches of Carvalhal, Pego and Melides, and between the city of Santiago do Casem and Lagoa de Santo André.

Connections are also planned between the city of Sines and the beaches of Sant Torpes and Porto Covo, as well as between the city of Odemira and the beaches of Zambujeira do Mar, Almograve and Vila Nova de Milfontes.

The project, according to CIMAL, aims to “facilitate the free access of the population and visitors to the beaches, making the use of public transport economically advantageous at the expense of individual transport.”

“Reduced car traffic and the inevitable restrictions near bathing areas, as well as reduced pollution caused by personal vehicles, are other benefits of the new seasonal transport network,” the note says.

According to the inter-municipal community, connections involve stopping at various locations until they reach their destination.

“In the case of Odemira, traffic between the county seat and Zambujeira do Mar stops at São Teotónio, just as traffic between Alcácer do Sal and Comporta Beach stops at Bairro da Quintinha, Monteville, Carrasqueira, Posanco and Aldeia. from Comporta. , he gives an example.

In the municipality of Grandola, the bus that will connect the beaches of Carvalhal and Pego “picks up or leaves passengers in Carvalhal, just like the line to Lagoa de Melides stops in the village of Melides.”

“The link between Santiago do Casem and Lagoa de Santo André stops at Vila Nova de Santo André,” he clarifies.

CIMAL provides for the implementation of more than four thousand connections within two months, which in total will amount to more than 45 thousand kilometers covered by buses in this territory.