The widespread free use of Cercanías, Rodalies and Media Distancia trains and the bonuses that other public transport receives at this time have their days numbered. The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda plans to maintain the aid currently in force during 2024, but from 2025 the roadmap involves changing the measure and focusing the discounts only on some groups.
The acting Government informed Brussels in the Budget Plan that the only measure to combat inflation that it will most certainly maintain next year is the bonus for public transport. The Ministry of Finance committed 1,440 million in the document, divided into 600 million for the Renfe subsidy, another 760 million for discounts on urban and interurban transport, a reduction extended by the autonomous communities and city councils, and 80 million to help lower the price of buses dependent on the central administration.
By 2025, the acting Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda has announced today that the objective is to make these measures structural only for a portion of citizens. That is, the Executive, as long as Pedro Sánchez's investiture goes ahead, proposes ending the generalized discounts that were installed to combat inflation.
This spirit is contemplated in the coalition agreement sealed between the PSOE and Sumar: from 2025 we will transform “this measure into a permanent transport policy for certain groups, with co-financing from the autonomous communities and the local administration.”
What are those “certain groups”. The PSOE considers that discounts on public transport should be reduced to “children” and “students up to 24 years of age”, “low-income workers” or “pensioners”. It is the proposal that was reflected in the electoral program of July 23 that the socialists consider as a base element for the decision to be made.
Sources from the Ministry of Transport explain that it is still early to know the decision. Minister Sánchez stated today that “public transport is a priority and has been the Government's great commitment to protect citizens from the economic consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and, at the same time, combat inflation and reduce our dependence energy and the consumption of fossil fuels.
The Ministry of Transport even stated, during the first months of implementation of generalized aid measures for public transport, that public subsidies could be modifying the mobility habits of some Spaniards, especially in large population centers. However, a report by EsadeEcPol published a few days ago concluded that, at least in the city of Madrid, the use of private transport has not been reduced.
Raquel Sánchez also stated this Monday that her ministry is working to try to improve mobility in “those geographically dispersed areas affected by depopulation, whose dependence on the private vehicle is today almost absolute.”
As the minister has explained, the dependence on the private vehicle.” The work plan involves, “with the help of technology”, promoting “new modes of transport that allow expanding and improving the offer in areas with lower population, such as on-demand services, shared transport or dynamic routes.” .
