Catalonia adds new on-demand and express bus lines in the Lleida province
In the County of Garrigues, the Catalan government has implemented 4 lines of on-demand bus lines, "Clic.cat", and a new express bus line, "expres.cat". These services will all be integrated with the high-speed train to Barcelona - a prime example of intermodality and coordination between different modes in low-density areas.
The new services will improve the connections between Borges Blanques and Leida. The timetables were designed to improve coordination with high-speed train services from Lleida to Barcelona. This will make it easier for the residents of the County of Garrigues, in the South West of Catalonia, to travel to Barcelona.
The set of measures is the result of a study work carried out by the County Council of les Garrigues to assess the needs of the surrounding municipalities to improve public transport services and improve mobility conditions. These actions are part of a wider effort to reinforce the public transport network in the area of Lleida.
The expres.cat bus line, which is part of the integrated fare system of Lleida, has fully accessible vehicles with free press and Wi-Fi service on board. The new expres.cat line is the sixth in the Lleida area and the 42nd in Catalonia. These high-performance buses have transported almost 100 million passengers to Catalonia since their launch.
The growth in public transport users led to an annual reduction in emissions compared to the year before the exprés.cat launch which can be valued at 1.360.000 EUR: 520.000 EUR for savings in greenhouse gas emissions and 840.000 EUR for the reduction of air pollution and savings in health costs.
More information is available here (in Catalan).
