Free public transport for young and old Lisbon residents already has 70,000 members, Mayor Carlos Moedas (PSD) said on Friday, saying the measure “will not recede” and “will remain forever.”
“Today we have 70,000 people in Lisbon who don’t pay for public transport, 70,000 people – that’s more than 10% of our population. [545.796 habitantes, segundo os resultados definitivos dos Censos de 2021]” said Carlos Moedas.
The Mayor of Lisbon spoke at a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the Metropolitano de Lisboa, attended by Prime Minister António Costa (PS) and held in Terreiro do Paço, where the Metro gives life to the city exhibition, as seen from the carriage installed in this space.
An open tender was also launched to extend the red line between San Sebastian and Alcantara.
Recalling the appearance of the public company Metropolitano de Lisboa, which was officially established on January 26, 1948, Carlos Moedas emphasized the purpose for which it was created: “It was to serve Lisbon, it was to develop and operate a collective transport system based on the use of the subsoil of our city, and had the municipality as its fundamental backbone.”
“Construction work began on August 7, 1955. Four years later, on September 29, 1959, a new transport system was opened, and the city changed, the city changed for the better, this was the great work of this city,” he stressed. , thanking the Metropolitano de Lisboa for “working for the benefit of the city” and stating that “75 years later, the metro continues to be of strategic importance.”
As president of the municipality since October 2021, Carlos Moedas emphasized the goal of providing free public transport for the youngest and oldest, which he was able to achieve “with the help of many”, including the chairman of the Metropolitano board of directors. Lisbon, Vitor Santos, President of the Lisbon Metropolitan Council, Carla Tavares (PS), who is also President of the Amador Chamber, and Faustino Gomez, President of the Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa (TML).
“This was an emergency relief for a measure that will stay forever,” the mayor of PSD noted, pointing out that this Friday Lisbon is one of the “several capitals in Europe that have free public transport”, following the example of Luxembourg, Tallinn and Malta. whose territory “cannot be compared” with the Portuguese capital.
Available from summer 2022, free public transport tickets in Lisbon are for young people aged 13 to 18, university students under the age of 23, including those enrolled in medicine and architecture courses under the age of 23 years old. 24 years old, as well as for citizens aged 65 and over, in which the general requirement for all is to have a tax residency in the municipality.
Since 2017, children under the age of 12 use free public transport in Lisbon on the Metropolitano and Carris road networks.
“This measure will not return, this measure is for the future, this is a measure to decarbonize our city, and this measure will not return, because investments are being made, they are being made to make free public transport more and more. better for our city,” said Carlos Moedas, dismissing criticism that there would be no investment in Carris and Metropolitano de Lisboa to achieve this goal, which was also an election pledge.
The mayor assured that these investments will continue “every day”, including in the Metropolitano, which is “expanding”, and noted that there are “certain options” that do not deserve his consent.
“But everyone here also knows, and this Friday they know it well, that the mayor of Lisbon is taking over and is taking on these responsibilities in full, just like I did yesterday. [quinta-feira] on World Youth Day,” he said, leaving a commitment to support Metropolitano’s (state-owned) investment, “keep on” work, and get the metro moving along the city’s vital axes.
Carlos Moedas took the opportunity to ask Prime Minister António Costa directly and publicly to consider “in the short term” the possibility of including a representative of the city council in the executive branch of the Metropolitano administration, taking into account the overall goal “to serve Lisbon”.
On April 21, 2022, the Lisbon Chamber unanimously approved a proposal for free public transport in the city, which provides for an agreement between the municipality and TML, valid until December 31, 2025, with an annual cost of up to 14.9 million euros.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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