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EMT and bicimad will be free for the return to school as Madrid eases its major works
This year's return to school will bring two days of free transport and fewer obstacles in some of the major works that have shaped mobility in Madrid in recent months. EMT buses will be free on 7 and 8 September, and bicimad will offer all journeys of up to 30 minutes free of charge.
The measure coincides with the return to classrooms and one of the moments of greatest traffic recovery after August. On buses, it will still be necessary to validate the usual ticket and, as on previous free-travel days, the Airport Express line will be excluded from the promotion.
Those who prefer the public bicycle will also be able to make use of both days. bicimad journeys of up to half an hour will be free, an option the City Council wants to reinforce precisely when families, students and workers once again fill streets and stations.
The change will also come with several reopenings. From Monday 31 August, Calle de Alcalá will recover one lane in each direction between Cibeles and Plaza de la Independencia. The section will have three lanes in each direction: two for general traffic and one reserved for public transport, the configuration it will retain when the refurbishment ends.
The M-30 will also gain capacity at Puente de Vallecas. The four southbound lanes have been open since 26 August and, after resurfacing scheduled overnight from Sunday to Monday, the four northbound lanes will also return from 6 in the morning. Works will continue, but closures will be concentrated outside peak hours and at night.
At Parque Ventas, the bulk of works with the greatest impact on traffic has already passed. Remaining occupations will be mainly occasional and at night, while work advances on such things as installing vertical gardens and developing the new space above the M-30.
The two major interventions that will still mark the coming months are the A-5 and Parque Castellana. The Paseo Verde del Suroeste tunnel will open to traffic at the end of the year and remove from the surface a large share of the more than 80,000 vehicles currently using this corridor. At the same time, the new 675-metre underground section beside the Cinco Torres will be operational in December.
That does not mean September will arrive without traffic jams. Several works will maintain occupations and traffic will increase as schools, offices and universities return, but the toughest restrictions will gradually disappear. For many Madrilenians, the first change will be very concrete: two days to take a bus or public bicycle without paying just as the city returns to full pace.