The Gran Canaria Single Transport Authority (AUTGC) have been able to lower the prices of public transport cards (bonos) on the Island, thanks to a 50% subsidy from the Government of Spain for bus transport on Gran Canaria.

The state contribution was raised from 30% to 50% after the signing of a collaboration protocol carried out last Monday by the President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, and the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, in the presence of the Minister of Public Works, Transport and Housing, Sebastián Franquis, in Madrid.

“Thanks to this measure by the Government of Pedro Sánchez, which is going to allocate €24 million so that all citizens of the Canary Islands can acquire transport vouchers at half price, from 1st of September, in the case of Gran Canaria, at a cost of €10 for retirees and young people, and €14 for other residents, that is, they will be able to travel without limit throughout the island for less than €0.30 and €o.46 per day respectively. This is possible thanks to the effort that the PSOE has made to ease the expenditure of families and alleviate inflation. Mobility is the best social policy, it is a central policy of the action of the Government of Spain, the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo de Gran Canaria”, stated vice-president Miguel Ángel Pérez del Pino adding that “curiously, those who say that the PSOE in Madrid treats the citizens of the Canary Islands as second class citizens, are the ones who had exorbitant transport prices during the 26 years they governed”, in reference to the right of centre regionalist party, Coalición Canaria, who have been critical in recent weeks that the Canary Islands did not benefit from the 100% reduction in train travel enjoyed by the rest of mainland Spain, on account of the archipelago having no train lines.

You can recharge your card at your municipality’s sales network (sale points by municipalities https://bit.ly/3cCObzg) and if possible not do it at the San Telmo Station to avoid crowds. In addition, you have the On-Line recharge available at https://carnets.gexco.es

 


Evolution of transport voucher prices

The AUTGC over the last 7 years has lowered the price of transport on the Island by 78%, “we have put public money at the service of the people of Gran Canaria. Since 2015, to the present, we have multiplied by five our contribution to reduce the price of transport on Gran Canaria”, the vice-president underlined.

In addition, Miguel Ángel Pérez del Pino has detailed the savings that the significant drop in prices means for public transport users:

  • “a retired person to make a journey, for example, from Gáldar to the Doctor Negrín Hospital, to go to rehabilitation, which in 2015 meant an expense of €72 per month and in 2022 is only €10, so they save more than €740 per year.
  • Young people going to class from the south, to the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, had to spend about €132 per month in 2015, and in 2022 only 10 euros, a reduction in the price that represents a saving for them of €1,400 per year.
  • In the case of a person who uses public transport to go to his job from the capital to El Doctoral, for example, in 2015 they had to pay €121 per month while in 2022 it is only €14, saving €1,200 per year.
  • Gran Canaria currently has one of the cheapest public transport rates in the Canary Islands and in Spain, any Gran Canarian can make all the trips they want around the Island for less than one euro a day. A type of trend that we are going to continue betting on from the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, which we have been applying since 2018 when we brought the first Wawa Joven (youth) voucher to the market”.

New buses to respond to the increase in demand

The Minister of Transport and Mobility has also advanced that “60 new vehicles have been acquired by Global for the renewal of its fleet to reinforce the lines of buses that will experience a greater increase in passengers with the 50% reduction in price of transportation vouchers.

With the entry into force of the new prices, which will be applied automatically when users go to purchase or renew vouchers starting from, September 1, 2022. Single tickets and other vouchers will continue to maintain the same price. There are currently some 150,000 users of transport cards on Gran Canaria and with the entry into force of the new rates, a 5% increase in the current number of flat-rate cards is expected.

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