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El Maresme needs up to 800 more buses so everyone can have a seat
The Govern estimates that between 700 and 800 vehicles and around 1,000 drivers are needed so everyone can travel seated. After the Fogars accident, El Maresme is calling for more safety and more frequent services.
The Generalitat estimates that around 1,000 drivers are also needed to reinforce interurban lines.
The bus fell down a twenty-metre embankment in Fogars de Montclús (Vallès Oriental). The accident on 25 October left 87 people injured, seven of them seriously.
The incident reignited calls for improved safety on interurban services. The Catalan Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, opened the door to changing the regulations that allow standing passengers on some buses and suggested that passengers should be seated and wearing seatbelts, especially on mountain roads.
The fleet also needs drivers
According to figures released by EFE and provided by the Departamento de Territorio, Vivienda y Transición Ecológica of the Generalitat, the Govern estimates that between 700 and 800 interurban buses are lacking for all passengers to be able to travel seated. The fleet would also need to be supplemented by approximately 1,000 drivers for intermunicipal lines.
User associations from the Maresme took their demands to parliamentary groups. They are calling for greater safety guarantees and more real-time information, as well as increased frequency; they also denounce the conditions of daily journeys.
The Parliament calls for measures for the Maresme
Parliamentary groups committed to requesting the appearance of the Secretary of Territorio, Manel Nadal, to learn about the measures planned by Salvador Illa's executive to tackle congestion on the lines between the Maresme y Barcelona.
At the end of April, the Generalitat announced an emergency plan worth 21.5 million euros to reinforce the interurban bus network, in response to increased demand in recent years. In another aspect of metropolitan mobility, the management of the ZBE planned from 2028 will cover up to 20 municipalities.
Sílvia Paneque, Minister of Territorio, Vivienda y Transición Ecológica, said in an interview on RAC1 that the frequency of road transport would be increased during peak hours: between six and nine in the morning.