Originally announced as a 'surface metro' between Loulé, Faro and Olhão, the proposal is actually for a Metrobus, in other words an electric bus, with its own lanes.
The metrobus project aims to create a 15 minute connection between Faro, Loulé and Olhão, in the Algarve, and could be the “antechamber” for a future surface metro.
“Our goal is to make these three cities a '15-minute city'. Ensure that there is dedicated access that allows transport for 15 minutes between Faro – Olhão, Faro – Loulé and Faro – airport and university”, said the president of the Commission for Coordination and Regional Development (CCDR) of the Algarve, José Apolinário.
According to a previous study, it is expected that around 40,000 trips can be made per day, with possible extensions of the line to Albufeira and Fuseta being investigated.
In the scenario where the new system is fully operated by electric vehicles, the total CO2 emissions avoided annually are estimated at 6340 tons.
As clarified by the president of CCDR in the Algarve, the metrobus, or BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), is an electric vehicle on its own corridor, with 24 stops, over 38 kilometres, serving around 185,000 residents in the three municipalities, i.e. , 40% of the Algarve population.
“By securing this corridor, we are going to create conditions for a pre-meter on rails in a second phase. However, we cannot move forward with a project that would cost at least 300 million euros, when the budget currently allocated to the project, in terms of European funds, is 70 million euros. Therefore, we have to do this step by ste', barrier by barrier”, Apolinário underlined.
According to the official, the choice of the most suitable route, the demand studies and the economic and financial viability of the project should be known by the first quarter of 2024, with the metrobus having to be completed by 2029.
The future line will pass through three railway stations (Parque das Cidades, Bom João, in Faro, and Olhão) and fundamental equipment and services in the region, such as the Gago Coutinho International Airport (with nine million passengers and five thousand workers) and the Gambelas campus of the University of Algarve (5.3 thousand students).
Source https://postal.pt/
