Monbus (through the joint venture Alcalabus / Castromil) and the Catalan company Segalés (through its subsidiary Osona 25 Bus) are two large companies that transport passengers. They, along with Avanza (Mobility ADO), have bid on the new multi-million euro public transport contract for Torrevieja. The contract is worth 138 million euros for ten years of service without extensions.
Avanza, a firm that was passed down from Costa Azul, an Orihuela-based transport company that the Mexican multinational bought in 2017, is currently in charge of the operation. But the service has been running in Torrevieja without a contract since 2012, thanks to payments that the municipal auditor has noted in reports. The City Council now spends about €250,000 a month on this service. Since then, different governments have not followed the advice of municipal and regional government technologists to put the service up for public bid in order to make it better for the thousands of people who use it every day.
Repeat
The town didn’t finalise the specifications and put the service out to bid until mid-2025, while Avanza was still charging. However, they had to stop this first attempt to award the contract after bids had already been received. The Central Administrative Court of Contractual Appeals agreed with a company’s argument that the specifications were not fair, which the company said made it impossible for competitors to compete on equal terms.
The administrative process had to start over since the tender paperwork had to be rewritten. In the meantime, users still have to deal with bad service, with regular delays, no real-time information on when buses will arrive and how often they will run, and not enough connections between different routes.
Bad service
Certain bus stops don’t have shelters, and in certain instances, the only thing that tells people where to get off is a laminated sheet of paper with the schedule on it. The stops that do have shelters and waiting seats, which were put in place in 2004, are in very bad shape and haven’t been taken care of since 2016. This includes the one in the town centre on Calle Ramón Gallud , which has the most passengers. For example, it takes two hours to get from the coastal hamlet of La Mata to Torrevieja Hospital, including travel time and waiting time, to traverse six km.
To pay or not to pay
In the 1990s, the current paradigm of transport was created. The City Council has made the service free for a lot of users in response to the continual complaints about its problems. Residents paid less than ten euros a year for unlimited usage of the buses.
On the other hand, the new service that is being put out to bid will be a paid service for 80% of users. It will try to meet the standards of any public transport service in a city of 100,000 people, like Torrevieja. This comprises more routes, more frequent service, better contact with users, and a new fleet of vehicles made up of six electric buses and 26 hybrid buses. All of them will include a driver assistance system, which will let both users and the concessionaire see real-time information on routes, arrival times, and any problems. The number of staff will more than double, going from 41 to more than 100 professionals.
Six new lines are also being added to the existing ones: the Circular Line, the Hospital Line, the Torreblanca-La Mata-Quirón Private Hospital Line, and the three night lines. The hours will be from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. in the low season and from 7 a.m. to midnight in the high season.
Businesses
Avanza, a part of Mobility ADO, is one of Spain’s top corporations for urban and intercity transport. It also runs some of the country’s most important concessions. It is a major actor in the towns and cities of the Community of Madrid. Mobility ADO, a worldwide company that owns it, runs more than 450 terminals and stations in the Americas and Europe. It also maintains a fleet of more than 8,000 vehicles and transports 500 million passengers a year. Not only does it run the bus terminal in Torrevieja, but it also owns the buildings.
Sagalés is a Catalan mobility group that mostly works in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, and to a lesser extent, the Basque Country. Its business numbers say that it moves more than 30 million people every year. It has 250 regular bus lines and 860 buses, as well as ambulances and other vehicles for getting around. It also runs travel agencies and administers bus terminals, among other things it has done to diversify its business in the past few years. With a history of 385 years, it is one of the oldest family-owned businesses in Spain.
Monbus, one of Spain’s biggest bus and coach companies, has been providing transport services from Galicia for more than 100 years. It provides transportation within cities, between cities, and over great distances. The organisation moves almost 37 million people every year with a fleet of more than 1,500 cars and more than 2,800 employees. It operates in around 1,900 places, both in Spain and around the world. It has a presence in Morocco and many places in Europe.
The race for eight new taxi permits is no longer valid.
The Torrevieja City Council has cancelled the bid for eight new taxi permits. Several taxi drivers who were waiting for the call for applications have publicly complained that they didn’t know about the tender, which was rolled out in stages over the Christmas holidays and was only advertised on the state public sector procurement portal. There was no announcement on the municipal website or social media.
These same applicants had already questioned the restrictions under which six other permits were given out months earlier. These limitations included that the business could only use completely electric cars or that all vehicles had to be made accessible to those with limited mobility. These people are paid workers who have been waiting for years to get a licence and work on their own.
If these additional permits are obtained, the city will have about 100 taxis. A lot of them work in two or three shifts. Uber, Cabify, and other ride-hailing services (VTCs) still don’t work in Torrevieja.
Author: Derek Appleton
No Comment! Be the first one.