The PCP will propose “setting the maximum price of metropolitan or regional monthly subscriptions at 20 euros from January 2023 in the specialty phase of the State Budgets, the communist general secretary announced today.
We are in the midst of a budget debate and we have no illusions about the options of the absolute majority of the PS and its convergence in essential aspects with the options of PSD, CDS, Chega and IL. But that does not stop us, rather it makes it more necessary to intervene, both inside and outside the State Budget, with proposals that give expression to the alternative policy that is imposed in the field of public transport”, said the communist leader.
Jerónimo de Sousa was speaking during the session “Public Tribune: More and Better Public Transport”, which took place this afternoon at the Casa da Cultura de Avintes, in Vila Nova de Gaia (Porto).
According to Jerónimo, the plan that the PCP will propose to promote public transport is based on two fundamental axes.
“The PCP will take the initiative to propose setting the maximum price of metropolitan or regional monthly subscriptions at 20 euros from January 2023”, he declared, noting that the party assumes as “the growing gratuity of the system is a national goal”.
Also part of the PCP’s proposal is the creation of an interregional national pass, with a value of 40 euros, starting in January 2023, in particular for the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, and creating a more accessible alternative for circulation national.
“Publication, in January 2023, for the entire country, of the free regional or metropolitan pass for people over 65, under 18 and students” is another of the proposals announced by the communist general secretary.
On a second axis, The PCP states that there must be a “rapid increase in supply”.
“The increase in the quality and quantity supply is essential so that the reduction in the access price can determine an effective reduction in the use of vehicles on which millions of people effectively depend”, he maintained.
Jerónimo de Sousa defended an investment in the acquisition of trains to ensure “the maximum incorporation of national production and accelerate this same process, in a country that, despite the announcements, has not bought or manufactured trains for two decades.”
The investment in the acquisition of trains must be articulated with the reconstitution of a national public highway operator, he added.
“It is necessary to put an end to the obstacles to the operation of public companies, namely, to their collective hiring and the hiring of the workers necessary for the operational response, ensuring the valorization and reduction of bureaucracy in access to the profession of driver of public service”.
During the public forum, Jerónimo de Sousa heard several testimonies from users of Vila Nova de Gaia, who said that there were several failures of public transport in the municipality, namely, the delay of buses to take students to schools on time or that circulate overcrowded. .
Ricardo Santos, a student, a resident of Avintes, reported in the tribune session that he has already seen “rain fall inside the buses” and that the “waiting time is up to two hours one way.”
Source: Observadora
