Andorra’s ski resorts want a free bus like in the Alps
Now that Andorra is sold as a country that you can ski with a single ski passthe companies that manage the different sectors of Grandvalira Resorts ask that the same ski pass also serve to access the bus that connects the different ski resorts.
Ski resorts currently make available to skiers free buses to slopes for those tourists who are staying in hotels without free transfer service. But there is no shuttle service that can connect the three winter resorts together.
It is not about inventing anything that has not already been seen elsewhere. In fact in the Alps almost all valleys with ski resorts (probably all) have a ski service free bus that connects skiers between the different winter complexes. It is the way that the tourist who arrives from abroad can move freely without depending on the car.
joseph marticellageneral director of EMAP (Pal Arinsal) and deputy general director of SETAP 365 (Soldeu-Vallnord) explained last week during a meeting in Poble de la Massana that
“It is important to understand mobility in a different way. In the meeting I had with the Government (of Andorra) it was put on the table. The representatives of the different ski areas presented the different types of transport that they currently have contracted for our clients and also workers with the will to evaluate the best way to optimize this transport as much as possible. already years”
The director is more in favor of a free shared mobility solutionto start building more car parks, as requested by one of the assistants for the towns of Arinsal and La Massana.
“The truth is that we surely need more car parks, but I think that what we also need is to reinvent ourselves with the issue of mobility. And that is what we have transmitted to the Government. I am convinced that we can come up with solutions soon, and surely, already For this season, some project or pilot test, and that it come true in the short or medium term”.
However, one of the big problems in Andorra at the moment is the saturation of the public transport service. To achieve fuel savings and help citizens combat the high price of oil, the bus is free for all residents.
The success has exceeded all expectations and the buses are often full or very full from early in the morning. That is why some voices ask that before taking a similar measure with the skier and the tourist, the Government should increase the number of vehicles of public transport.
Currently the Government of Andorra has delivered more than 17,000 passes Free access to the public transport service.
At the moment it is a pilot test that began on July 1 and It will end on December 31.. These are monthly subscriptions. freeincluding Unlimited trips throughout Andorra and they are offered to residents between the ages of 3 and 64 who do not already have another subsidized season ticket.
in this way Andorra becomes the second country in the world next to Luxembourg where transportation is free throughout the country. Another territory where the service also has no cost is in Gibraltaran exception of the bus line that leaves or arrives at the border with Spain.
In our country, who offers a free bus tour is the population of peanuts (Valencia). In summer tourists can go from urbanizations and hotels to the urban center at no cost.