Students from Elche collect more than 1,800 signatures for improved transport to the University of Alicante

Juanjo Ruiz, the rector of Miguel Hernández University (UMH), recently suggested changing the regional bus line between Alicante and Elche to include a direct stop at the Elche campus. Local students have also been asking for better transport to the University of Alicante for a while now. They have gotten more than 1,800 people to sign a petition on Change.org in the last few weeks asking for ‘good transit’ between Elche and the University of Alicante on bus route 258.

They said that a lot of kids in the city use this Vectalia bus line every day to get to school, but they think the service is “insufficient, unsafe, and, what’s worse, more expensive.” They said that it doesn’t happen very often: “In the afternoons, there’s only one bus per hour, which makes students late and leaves them without a seat.” They also talked about how crowded it is: “We travel standing, on stairs or even on the floor, on a queue that runs along the highway.” And finally, they talked about the price going up. There is no longer free transport; currently a ticket costs €2.40 for each trip.

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They asked the University of Alicante, Vectalia, and the Elche City Council to increase the number of buses during peak hours, make sure that “safe and dignified conditions” are met, and bring back the “reduced or free fare for students.” They stressed that students from the University of Alicante who live in Elche were behind this project.

In this case, the students who signed the petition for this reform brought up a number of everyday problems, such having to skip particular bus stops because they were already packed. There are only three buses a day in Torrellano, which messes up their schedule and the time they need to stay at university to catch the return bus. They also stressed how important it is to cut fares to help families with less money.

To put it simply, these are problems that Elche has already dealt with and made better, like the bus service to the outlying areas, where the line to the Business Park had problems with irregular service and long lines at the entrance and departure. The new service has made this better.

Author: Derek Appleton