Algarve MP, Cristovão Norte, had highlighted further inconsistencies in the government’s transport policy, complaining that the new raft of discounted bus services, available only to residents in Porto and Lisbon, fail to include similar groups in the Algarve .
The Government is to include, in the 2019 State Budget, a discount scheme costing €90 million for public transport in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto.
Norte says that the Algarve is missing out as there is no initiative by the Government to extend the regime.
Free travel for children up to 12 years also should be available outside the two cities.
“Algarve children are no more and no less than the others, they also have to go to school and often take more time to travelling greater distances. School transport in the Algarve is paid for by local authorities and the children’s parents – why should this be different in Porto?” says Norte, adding that, "collective transport in Lisbon and Porto already receives more than €120 million of subsidy for public transport services."
"The Algarve has always been on the margins of any structured public transport policy, this is chronically one of the biggest failures in a region where many commute.
“To see metropolitan areas having more privileges is to deepen the imbalance, completely contrary to what is proclaimed” by government in terms of equality.
