The Official Gazette of Aragon has published, for public display, the preliminary project for the management of the bus line between Zaragoza and the Airport. This administrative procedure is part of the agreements reached between the Zaragoza City Council and the Government of Aragon within the framework of the Transport Consortium for the management and financing of different intercity bus services.
The objective will be to tender this concession in a coincident way with the implementation of the concession map of the Government of Aragon, in which a specific line to the PLAZA polygon is also incorporated. Thus, the objective of making both services independent will be fulfilled, so that the journey to the Airport can be made more directly and “on demand”, that is, depending on the existing flights and schedules.
On the other hand, a regular and direct service to PLAZA will be guaranteed, adapted in turn to the growing demand for public transport from the logistics platform.
For the Minister of Public Services and Mobility of the City Council, Natalia Chueca“It is good news that the airport line project, which has been going on for years and successive legislatures without a solution, has been unblocked. Saragossa -has said- It deserves to have a direct line to the Airport that improves its connections with it, and also another specific line to PLAZA, which has its specific requirements and conditions”.
For Chueca, “This is one more step that confirms the agreements reached within the Transport Consortium, in which the climate of collaboration between the City Council and DGA in terms of organization and financing of interurban transport must be confirmed.”.
This service will be offered with 100% electric buses, although in the first months of the future concession the use of hybrid buses will be allowed while the necessary recharging facilities are enabled and the electric vehicles are supplied. In addition, depending on the evolution of the technologies available at the time of the tender for the concession, and if European funds are obtained for its financing, the City Council has the objective of introducing electric buses with hydrogen technology on this line.
It is estimated that the line may have an annual demand of more than 100,000 passengers, although this calculation could vary depending on the number of flights scheduled from the Airport. In any case, the objective is that the schedules and availability of the service be organized in direct relation to the departure and arrival times of said flights.
That is why the improvements in interaction with users are also incorporated into the new service, which will allow the advance purchase of tickets through a web page and a mobile application, and the monitoring of buses in real time from this application. .
The annual cost of this line, including the necessary investments, will depend on the technology finally selected for its operation and on the bids from the bidders. The award would be for 10 years.
Once the period for public exhibition is over and the contributions considered are incorporated, the final project will be approved, which will be the one that is put out to tender within the aforementioned periods.
–
