The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, announced this Monday that the regional government will reduce the price of monthly transport passes by 20% from September 1 to December 31 of this year. Which, added to the 30% announced by the central government last July, will mean a total reduction of 50%.
This was explained to the media in the Plaza de la Villa, after the delivery of the Bronze Doves, where he underlined that this reduction will be carried out in all transport in the region, that is, in the Madrid Metro , buses and Cercanías.
"Water rates in the Community of Madrid, as well as transport rates, have been frozen for a decade and public transport is heavily subsidized, since 70% is borne by the regional administration and not by travellers, but we want to continue delving into these reinforcements," said the president.
The regional Executive will present this reduction to the Madrid Regional Transport Consortium for approval this week. Ayuso has stressed that this measure "demonstrates the consensus and dialogue that his Government is seeking" by thus extending by another 20% the 30% reduction already proposed by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, during the last debate on the state of the nation.
The Price Commission of the Consumer Council of the Community of Madrid already approved on Friday the transfer of the 30% discount measure financed by the central government to regional rates, which will now be reduced by another 20% once it is approved the additional reduction proposed by the Government of Ayuso.
With the 30% reduction already approved, the monthly transport subscription of the Crown A of the Community of Madrid will cost 38.2 euros in September. On the other hand, regular subscriptions will range from 38.2 euros in zone A to 92.20 euros in zone E2. The youth subscription will go from 20 to 14 euros and that of the elderly will stand at 2.3 euros.
This measure is announced after several criticisms. Specifically, the president of the Federation of Municipalities of Madrid (FMM), Guillermo Hita, disfigured the Community that turned a deaf ear to extending the reduction of public transport passes subsidized to 30% by the central government.
As reported in an interview with Europa Press, the FMM was summoned to the Price Commission of the Consumer Council of the Community of Madrid in which this reduction was discussed. There they carried, at the request of the PSOE, that these transport passes be discounted at 100% until the end of the year or, at least, that it be raised to 50% with the contribution of the central Executive.
"The truth is that we are glad that Ayuso has reconsidered and approves today what we proposed a few weeks ago, which is to make public transport more affordable for the people of Madrid. It is also true that it would have been easier, instead of criticizing the measure first to apply it later, the umpteenth sterile controversy would have been saved," García pointed out in an audio sent to the press.
Even so, he continues, in More Madrid they are "really" glad that the Madrid president "joins the bandwagon of common sense." "Hopefully it is not a mirage and the Madrid families finally have a president who is more concerned with alleviating their situation than seeking confrontation, and that is why we ask that, in addition to reducing the price, eliminate the cuts and increase the public transport service", added the spokeswoman for Más Madrid.
He assures that, "in the meantime", since its formation they will continue "proposing measures so that inflation and the rise in prices do not continue to feed on the people of Madrid". "And Ayuso -concludes García- has to choose if she is with the men and women of Madrid, or remains trapped in his permanent strategy of tension".
