On Tuesday, Porto County BE called on the capital district to quickly address the “widespread lack of knowledge” about the timetables and routes of the UNIR network, arguing that the launch “cannot be carried out easily and gradually.”
“The launch of the UNIR metropolitan network cannot be achieved either easily or gradually: people depend on public transport to travel, work and study,” the Bloc de Esquerda of the Porto district said in a statement today.
While defending the fact that mobility is a “social right”, BE says it is not possible to wait until March next year “to solve the problem of bus shortages”, providing information to users or removing lines, problems it says are ” urgent.” permission”.
“There is a need to invest quickly in providing simple and accessible information on lines and timetables, replacing closed lines, especially in Braga, and ensuring that bus delays or idle times can be monitored in real time.” , he emphasizes, adding that the new UNIR network cannot “keep at this level of amateurism.”
“This failure to prepare in time for a cohesive and reliable network to take effect is a huge inconvenience for those who rely on public transport every day,” he says.
In this sense, BE calls on the Metropolitan Region of Porto (AMP) and its constituent municipalities to quickly address the “general lack of knowledge about career schedules and routes.”
At the same time, blockers call for consultation with the population about the new transport network “in order to adjust and improve the service taking into account who uses it.”
“This change cannot be made out of complete disappointment and disrespect for those who use them and depend on them for their daily travel,” adds BE.
UNIR began operating on December 1 across the region after years of legal battles with previous operators.
The new network of 439 lines and a new image replaces the services provided by approximately 30 private road operators in AMP, such as Caima, Feirense, Transdev, UT Carvalhos, Gondomarense, Pacense, Arriva, Maré, Landim, Valpi, North Coast, Souto. , MGC, Celuwe, Espirito Santo and others.
In Porto and neighboring municipalities, the STCP (Sociedade de Transportes Coletivos do Porto) service remains unchanged.
The entire UNIR network will use the Andante ticketing system and ends with the line-by-line concession model inherited from 1948, as the public tender was divided into five lots, although they all operate under the same brand.
According to the contracts, AMP will provide a total of €311.6 million over seven years as part of the new public road transport network.
UNIR was implemented following a public tender issued in 2020, but its launch was delayed due to successive complaints from some former field operators who lost the public tender and were operating under provisional licenses.