Thursday’s inauguration ceremony was attended by Mobility & Housing Minister Marc Pons and the President of the Balearic Government Francina Armengol.
“The new Intercity Transport of Mallorca is a revolution that will mark this decade," said President Armengol. "This is a day of celebration and joy for Mallorca, we have updated the island to achieve more sustainable mobility.”
She also pointed out that renewing the TIB fleet was a brave decision saying the Island and its residents will benefit from having “quality public transport with very modern technology.”
"Today another step has been taken in a new management model for public road transport,” said Minister Pons. "It is the result of five years work and right now Mallorca’s public transport is at its very best.”
He also explained that the comprehensive approach of the project “eliminates inequalities” and shows an economic and environmental commitment "to achieve energy optimisation and reduce emissions.”
Alcúdia Mayoress Bàrbara Rebassa thanked the Government for its commitment to the service which she said was “a very important economic and social opportunity.”
“The completion of all public transport concessions offered the opportunity to adjust the supply of transport to the current needs of mobility in Mallorca, modernise the bus fleet and incorporate technological innovations in the whole network,” said Minister Pons. “The TIB now offers a better quality service with more frequent buses and better connections throughout the entire network, creating more direct routes and saving travel time.”
More buses have been added in the Poniente area which is operated by Moventis, to improve connections with Palma.
There’s now 11 services a day, instead of 4, on the Es Capdellà-Calvia-Palma route with direct connections to and from Palmanova and Son Caliu and new stops on the Ma-1C.
Improvements have also been made to the three main lines connecting Palma with the North zone, which is operated by the Ruiz Group, with the Palma-Soller service via the tunnel running every 30 minutes during rush hour instead of every hour.
Extra buses have been added on the route from Sa Pobla to Inca and Pollensa with new connections to Alcúdia and Playa de Muro. Passengers can either change buses at Inca Llevant or Inca Station or catch a train to Palma.
Two high capacity, high frequency lines have been created in the areas of Levante and Migjorn which is operated by Sagalés Caldentey to improve connections with Palma.
Buses on the Llucmajor-Campos-Palma route will no longer pass through s’Arenal which shaves 15 minutes off the journey.
The Municipalities of Llevant, Capdepera, Artà, Son Servera, Sant Llorenç and Manacor will have buses every hour on weekdays.
There will also be extra buses to Palma and Manacor from the Municipalities of Migjorn, Santanyí, Ses Salines and Felanitx.
The TIB fleet has 223 new buses; 198 are compressed natural gas vehicles, 18 electric propulsion, 7 are diesel and 68.6% of them are low-floor buses, making access easier.
The buses are bigger too with 15-18 metres long vehicles on routes where demand is high and the signs inside the buses are being improved so that people with visual or hearing disabilities will know which stops are coming up next.
A new pay-as-you-go Intermodal Card is being introduced which will cover journeys on buses, trains and the metro with fares calculated via the number of stops passengers travel.
The Intermodal card can be topped up via the TIB website or at vending machines in train and metro stations and there’s also a points system with rewards for regular users, so the more you travel, they more you’ll save and there’s discounts for groups of up to five people.
4 comments
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Stan, I agree with you. And in future, we may see hydrogen fueled buses. But, reliability is of course very important for a bus. That and a LOT of miles. So natural gas, is not optimal maybe, but the best mix of a substantial lowering of emissions, reliability and performance.
Julian, they are probably referring to the commissions.
Surely compressed natural gas produces shed loads of carbon emissions. So how is this Green and World Leading exactly?????
My comment will not be liked. The fares have doubled. The discount card is for those with Residencia. Tourists will pay the doubled fares Low level entry is welcome. Hydrogen fuelled Buses would be totally environmentally welcome, with only WATER coming out of the exhaust pipe