In a statement, AMAL indicated that the contract will be signed after the operator assures the obligations arising from the international public tender to reinforce and improve mobility on 98 lines of the 16 municipalities of Faro district.


The obligations include the implementation of a transportation system for places with more than 40 inhabitants who do not yet have a regular service, the transportation of two bicycles on the Vila Real de Santo António / Faro, Faro / Lagos and Lagos / Sagres and Aerobus service for direct connection of some cities to Faro airport, which also includes the free transportation of two bicycles per vehicle.


According to AMAL, the public transport service in the Algarve will be fully operational by August 2020, and will not cover urban transport managed by the municipalities of Faro, Portimão and Lagos.


The international tender for the concession of the public road passenger service to the Algarve was launched last June, within the scope of the law that places the competence of the management of that service in the municipalities and in the intermunicipal communities.


The municipalities of the Algarve were pioneers in advancing this measure through a tender with a value of around €85 million for a five-year concession.


In the Algarve there are currently 106 regular passenger road transport baselines, of which 98 are now managed by AMAL, as transport authority.


This year, the association that integrates the 16 municipalities of the Algarve has advanced with a progra-mme to reduce the price of public transport passes in the region, which have a maximum value of 40 Euros.


AMAL and the Alentejo Litoral Intermunicipal Community (CIMAL) recently signed a protocol for the reinforcement and regulation of public road transport on the links between Odeceixe (Algarve) / Santiago do Cacém (Alentejo), including the crossing via Odemira.
“This protocol will, among other benefits, enable cost savings,” argues AMAL.