The Association of Municipalities for Mobility and Urban Transport (AMTU) has debated the completion of the new concessions for road transport, scheduled for 2028, in a day held within the framework of the twenty-second edition of the Fira Municipalia, in Lleida, with the participation of the main municipal entities of Catalonia and also the ATM of Lleida.
All participants have agreed to ask for a new model that takes into account the different realities of the country, that is adaptable to changes, and in which the municipalities can be heard.
Before the debate, the general director of the AMTU, Joan Serra, also opened the AMTU stand, welcoming the attendees. Serra explained that the AMTU is present at this fair because they want to be close to the city councils, councilors and mobility technicians, explaining to them what they do in terms of mobility and public transport, with projects such as flexible transport or the new purchasing center, and other services they also provide.
In the round table 'New concessions to road transport. A new opportunity to redefine mobility in Catalumya. Horizon 2028', Sergi Penedès, representing the ACM, Mario Urrea, from the Association of Microtowns of Catalonia, Carles Labraña, head of Studies and Projects at the AMTU, and Teresa Tost, technical head of the ATM of Lleida, participated.
The participants have agreed in stating that the end of road transport concessions opens a new opportunity to rethink the mobility map in Catalonia.
Urrea, as a representative of micro-towns, has stated that small towns are the ones that have the most mobility and public transportation problems and has stated that the model of large cities cannot be replicated in the rural world. For his part, Carles Labraña recalled that there is now the challenge of adapting an interurban mobility model that is outdated because it is regulated by a standard that dates back to 1987.
Labraña has opted to technically define its needs now in the territory, also incorporating other types of mobility such as on-demand transport or school transport, and also taking into account that we move towards electric and sustainable elements. Finally, he has also asked that municipalities be able to participate in the governance model and make their voices heard.
The Lleida Municipal Fair, inaugurated this Tuesday by the general secretary for the Demographic Challenge, Francesc Boya, presents 351 exhibitors and conferences from October 17 to 19 to respond to the needs of the populations in the field of municipal services and sustainability.
Visitors, mainly mayors, councilors and technicians from Catalonia and also from around the world, can learn about the latest developments in matters such as electric mobility, management of selective waste collection or water management, among others.
During his attention to the media, Boya has stressed that municipalities are a key piece of the territory and that it is necessary to "strengthen" them to face the challenges derived from the effects of climate change, the aging of the population and depopulation. . "All these challenges are on the table and require multi-level cooperation with all administrations. And also a new vision of public policy," said the Secretary General for the Demographic Challenge.
"We must be able to combine economic models, future sustainability models and also the sociodemographic vision, since in Catalonia there are 400 municipalities at risk and in Spain there are almost 4,000," commented Boya in relation to the impact of depopulation in the state. "We tend to live in urban agglomerations and that makes the rural territory suffer from this depopulation," he added.
Regarding water management, Boya has said that "it is a very serious problem" and that it will be necessary to "take advantage of technology" and offer a "very efficient" policy regarding the use of water resources.
