AMAL – Comunidade Intermunicipal do Algarve wants the new Government, which will take office soon, to reinforce the funds of the Support Program for Public Transport Tariff Reduction (PART), since this “will be the only solution to keep the region Algarve in this project».
This is, emphasizes AMAL, «a request, as a warning», since, without the reinforcement of funds, «the municipalities will not be able to support for much longer the costs they are having with the program».
In a note sent to newsrooms, AMAL recalls that «of the funds received annually for PART, the largest share comes from the government, 80%, through the Environmental Fund and the remaining 20% are provided by the municipalities».
However, says the Intermunicipal Community, «in the Algarve, this equation has changed in recent months. With the end of the pandemic, the demand for public transport and the purchase of passes increased substantially and government support proved to be insufficient. The local authorities in the region have increased their contribution, reaching around 50%, that is, half of the global amount foreseen for the Algarve, which becomes unaffordable for the municipal coffers».
Currently, according to AMAL, «the budget for PART in the region is around 2 million euros and about 1 million is being provided by the municipalities. The municipalities decided to guarantee this support for a period of 6 months, from January to June, but they warn, from now on, that they will not be able to maintain this level of funding for the program beyond this period».
Therefore, the municipalities ask that, «in order to maintain the project in the Algarve», the government that will soon assume functions «reinforce the PART budget, fulfilling, moreover, what is agreed».
According to AMAL, the Government announced, at the end of January, an increase in the amount of PART by 15 million euros, to be distributed among several Intermunicipal Communities and the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon and Porto, as Regional Transport Authorities.
The decision came “after it was found that during the pandemic there was an expected decrease in the number of passengers and to address the problems resulting from the underfunding of the public transport system, the government announced this additional amount of funds. AMAL was not included in this reinforcement, but is now faced with a situation that makes it difficult to maintain the program in the region».
As the Regional Transport Authority, the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve says that “it has developed a vast amount of work with a view to improving the services provided, seeking to ensure, on the other hand, territorial cohesion, also in this area of mobility”.
AMAL «was the first Intermunicipal Community in the country to proceed with the concession of the public service of road transport of passengers, for a period of 5 years, and is preparing the introduction, in the Algarve, of the intermodal pass (something that at the moment only exists in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto). It is also putting into practice the PIACC-Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change and these being the two areas that underlie the existence of the PART, an departure from the Algarve from the program would represent a heavy setback for the future of the region», he recalls.
PART was created in 2019 and guarantees financial support to Regional Transport Authorities, such as AMAL, in the implementation of measures to reduce tariffs.
The measure aims, on the one hand, to attract passengers to public transport (which benefit from a 50% discount on the value of the passes), to reduce the expenses of families with travel and, on the other hand, to take a significant step in environmental terms, reducing car use and air pollution levels.
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