The Councilor Ciriza visits the new fleet of buses, more comfortable, accessible and efficient, that will run between Pamplona/Iruña and Vitoria-Gasteiz.
The new public bus services in Sakana will be launched at the beginning of May, with Irurtzun and Altsasu/Alsasua as reference localities.
The Councilor for Territorial Cohesion, Bernardo Ciriza, today visited the new fleet of vehicles manufactured by the Navarre-based company Sunsundegui, which will provide service on the Pamplona-Vitoria route and will significantly improve the quality of the trip for users. They are 3 buses and a midibus, with 63 and 16 seats respectively. All of them will also have an additional seat for people with reduced mobility in wheelchairs (PMRS) that can be extended to a second PMRS seat.
As of May 4, the new services will have transport vouchers on all lines, which will benefit from a 50% discount on the ticket price. Until now, only the trunk services of the Pamplona-Vitoria axis had them, and not the on-demand services, which serve localities that lacked public transport until now. It should be recalled that this savings measure, of which the State assumes 30% of the discount and the Foral Executive the remaining 20%, aims to promote the use of public transport by bus, which is more sustainable, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and contribute to alleviate the citizens’ pocket in the face of rising prices.
The visit, which took place at the Sunsundegui company in Alsasua where the vehicles were produced, was also attended by the general director of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Berta Miranda, the CEO of Grupo Autobuses La Unión, Joaquín Acha; the manager of Burundesa, Javier Ochoa; and the general director of Grupo Autobuses La Unión, Claudio Lesaca. Ignacio Murillo, CEO Sunsundegui, and Felix Aramendía, General Manager Sunsundegui, were present on behalf of Sunsundegui.
The new vehicles that will be put into operation next May introduce improved accessibility (all buses and the midibus will have a space for users with reduced mobility in wheelchairs and an access platform, as well as sound information on the service provided), active and passive safety, environmental efficiency (EURO VI engines, lower polluting emissions) and comfort (increased space, free WiFi network, USB connections in seats, comfortable seating), which places them at the forefront of sustainability, accessibility and protection. All of them are also painted entirely in white and red and labeled with the coat of arms of Navarre and the NBUS logo, which will identify and publicize the public bus services promoted by the Regional Administration.
Service for small localities that lacked public transportation
The new concession has been designed with a regional vision, to respond to the mobility demands of the population to access the services of general interest located in the head of the region, Alsasua and Irurtzun, from where it also connects with Pamplona by means of a transfer.
The services are structured in 5 lines: 3 trunk lines on the Pamplona-Vitoria axis and a service on demand consisting of 2 lines between Arakil-Irurtzun and Ergoiena-Alsasua, which will allow extending the service to smaller localities that until now lacked it: Satrustegui, Ekai, Egiarreta, Etxeberri, Urritzola, Errotz, Izurdiaga, Aizkorbe, Lizarraga, Dorrao, Unanu and Lizarragabengoa. These lines will also have services linked to the trunk services in order to be able to connect with Pamplona and Vitoria-Gasteiz.
On-demand services will be provided with a midibus using an identification plate with the NBUS logo. Users must previously request its use, so if no request is received, the service will not be provided. In this way, the itinerary to be followed on each occasion will vary according to the requests made.
It should be recalled that the on-demand transport modality is already being developed in some rural areas of Navarra with a very positive assessment by both users and local councils.
The trunk lines will connect Pamplona with Vitoria-Gasteiz (lines 1 and 2), as well as Pamplona with Ziordia (line 3). Thus, the connection between Pamplona and Vitoria will have 7 daily frequencies, 6 on Saturdays and 4 on Sundays. The connection between Pamplona and Ziordia will also have 3 outbound and 3 return frequencies.
In addition, in order to facilitate travel for health or educational purposes, stops will be set up at certain times in the hospital area, as well as on the campus of the Public University of Navarra.
Fourth transportation concession in operation
The Pamplona-Iruña-Alsasua / Alsasua-Vitoria-Gasteiz concession is the fourth to come into operation this term of office as part of the Integral Plan for Interurban Road Passenger Transport (PITNA).
It should be recalled that on March 1 the new transport services of La Ribera (Pamplona/Iruña-Tudela-Zaragoza concession) came into operation. Designed with a regional vision, the new services are structured to connect 24 municipalities of the Ribera Baja with Tudela, as a regional reference town, and link from the capital of the Ribera Baja with Pamplona and Zaragoza.
In addition, a year ago, in March 2022, the new bus services in the middle zone were launched, also designed with a regional vision with Tafalla as the reference locality from where it links to Pamplona.
Previously, in November 2019, the concession of the public road transport service between Pamplona and Soria came into operation, with five routes linking the two cities.
It should be recalled that the PITNA is being prepared based on the following premises: regional vision and redesign of the lines; improvement of the connectivity of the entire territory with the localities where the services of general interest for the population (educational, health, administrative, work, leisure, etc.) are located; improvement of economic efficiency by integrating loss-making and non-loss-making concessions; and improvement of the quality of the service and accessibility for people with disabilities.