Sustainable mobility

The continuing urban growth in our cities, and also in Palma, means that people are increasingly living in suburbs with lower population densities, signifying fewer general services or greater distances to and from schools and places of work, multiplying the need to make more and longer journeys.

Many of these are made by car, with the consequent problems of traffic congestion within the city, the loss of productive time during travel, energy and land consumption, increasing pollution, etc.

Five reasons for using public transport

There are considerable reasons why passengers in cities should use public transport. We list five of them here:

1. Public transport results in a reduction in traffic congestion, wasted hours and external costs, in a city invaded by cars.

2. Nowadays in cities with bus lanes, travelling by bus at rush hour, apart from being faster, also helps you avoid many stressful situations.

3. The lack of parking spaces in cities for private vehicles that are parked 95% of the time is solved with a public transport user who alights from the bus without needing to park. Whereas in a single day the number of passengers on a bus can exceed 1,000 users per vehicle, the majority of passenger cars only make two journeys per day with one single passenger. The rest of the time they are stopped, occupying valuable parking spaces in the centres of our cities.

4. The use of public transport instead of a private car results in between 3 and 5 times lower rates of consumption and pollution. Public passenger transport is clearly more sustainable for our environment.

5. The city requires good public transport to permit the multiple activities that are carried out there to continue to function. Businesses, work places, schools, health and recreational centres are in many cases unworkable, both socially and financially, without an efficient public transport system that permits residents to travel about.

More mobility for everyone

Not all of us have a car of our own. A large percentage of residents do not drive passenger cars for financial reasons, or owing to their age, a disability, having no licence or simply because they don’t want to. And what's more, of the residents that do have cars, it is not always available when they need it. Public transport is available to everyone, and it is vital for the city to function properly. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, a basic and essential public service.

The Empresa Municipal de Transports de Palma (EMT-Palma) seeks to guarantee the mobility of all persons.

The application of accessibility criteria on its transport enables people with reduced mobility to also be able to make use of it.

This promotes their full social integration and at the same time helps other collectives, who through their own personal circumstances, may have special needs - collectives that we see around us every day: older people, mums and dads travelling with babies in pushchairs, pregnant women, etc.

Accordingly, the specific measures that EMT in Palma has implemented are multiple. We highlight the following:

• Buses with a ramp and lifting system for wheelchairs.

• Single-decker vehicles with non-slip flooring and more seats and special reserved places.

• Adaptation of pavements at bus stops, incorporating platforms where these are most necessary.

• Improved information systems at bus shelters.

• Lower fares for more disadvantaged collectives.