The Basque institutions, prepared to keep the 50% subsidy for public transport in 2023

The basque citizenship has been since Sept pay half for public transport, in which is a measure to counter inflation and which is insured until December 31. So, with just over a month to go before the end of that period, the Ask is like From 1 January 2023, the Basques can continue to count on this discount; The answer, as of November 24, is that the institutions of the BAC, including the Basque government, have clearly expressed their views on doing sotheir willingness to keep public transportation half the cost, at least until Junewith what everything points to it being so.

The question is that It has not been determined who will bear the costs of the half that citizens do not pay. Until the end of the year, the government of Spain subsidizes 30% of the cost of each journey on public transport, while Basque institutions account for the remaining 20%: 10% the Basque government, and another 10% the Diputaciones de Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, or, in the case of city buses, the town halls. Anyway, The Spanish government has not announced, at least for now, that it will extend its 30% support beyond December 31.; We do know that the Renfe Cercanías trains will remain free in 2023, but the Spanish government has not announced a discount for public transport that is not within its remit.

In an interview on ‘Boulevard’, on Radio Euskadi, the Minister of Economy and Finance of the Basque Government, Pedro Azpiazu, estimated the total amount of the 50% aid at about 72 million euros, and stated that his department would will take transport aid decided by the Basque institutions for 2023, but warned that “it would not be desirable” to keep them “without further criteria”, specifying that they should be reviewed at the end of the first half of the year, after analyzing the inflation situation. In this sense, the Basque Parliament has urged the Basque government to extend the 50% reductions in 2023, with a review after six months to discuss whether the conditions that motivated them still apply.

So in the whole of the Basque Autonomous Community, the Basque government has declared its intention to make every effort to maintain the subsidy and to ensure that this subsidy remains at 50%; Councilor Azpiazu, yes, has specified that “it is up to the Basque Transport Authority and other institutions” to set the funding rate, and to his department “to at least seek the means and funding to make this happen”. . The Basque Transport Authority plans to meet in early December.

By territories

Analysis of the situation by historical territories, alava It has already included a line in its 2023 budget that will see it continue with the cuts.

Is in the same situation Guipuzkoa, which provided 12 million for this in 2023, three times the amount of the previous year, as noted by the general deputy, Markel Olano, in Euskadi Irratia’s ‘Faktoria’. Regional delegate for Mobility, Rafaela Romero, has also been in favor of keeping the 50% cut in 2023, whether it is subsidized by the Spanish government or not.

Biscay, although it is not included in any budget line, it has approved in general meetings to urge the Provincial Council to extend in 2023 the 50% discount on public transport fares in the territory, regardless of the source of funding. In the capital Bilbao, the plenary meeting of the city council approved this Thursday to maintain the current 50% discounts for transport in Bilbobus and in the Artxanda funicular during 2023.