27/11/2013 00:00
TW
0

SINGLE bus tickets on Palma's municipal transport system are the second most expensive in Spain.
According to a study by the Consumers' Federation in Action (FACUA), at 1.10 euros, the cost follows a close second to Barcelona where travellers pay 1.15 euros a time. The same research also shows that the cost of purchasing a ten-journey bus card is the most expensive in Spain, priced at 8 euros.
At the other end of the scale, Logroño (0.56 euros), Castellon and Cuenca (0.65 euros) are the cities of Spain where a single bus ticket can be purchased most cheaply. Facua claim that the variance in the differences in the cost of a single journey is as high as 105 percent.
The results of their investigation reveal that the average price of a single bus ticket in cities around the country is 0.87 euros.
Nevertheless, Palma is one of the 28 cities researched where there has not been an increase in ticket prices this year, whereas in others there have been rises well over and above the cost of living index, such as Murcia (21.4 percent) and Bilbao (17.7 percent). Separately though, the cost of a ten-journey bus card in Palma has risen by 6.5 percent this year. Currently, buying a multi-journey ticket represents a saving of 27 percent in comparison to paying the cost of a single journey each time a bus ride is undertaken. For those living within the municipal boundaries of Palma, the “citizen's discount card”, is equal to a saving of between 58 and 79 percent when compared to buying individual tickets. Santander, Palma and Seville are the cities of Spain where buying a multi-journey ticket or using a citizen's discount card represents the greatest saving when compared to paying for a single journey each time. In contrast, bus companies in Cuenca and Murcia were those found to give the least benefit to public transport users.
FACUA also claim that differences in tariff on the bus services of 28 Spanish cities varied as much as 131 percent.
Furthermore, this year, nearly seven out of every ten fares studied rose by a sum over and above the cost of living index for 2004 which stood at 3.2 percent. The average rise in price of multi-journey tickets and citizen's discount cards, was 6.8 percent while the cost of a single bus journey rose on average by 4.8 percent. Using the economy fares resulted in an averge minimum saving of 39 percent against single ticket purchases.