The majority of Basque public authorities support free public transport up to 12 years old
- During the plenary session of the Baque Transport Authority, the Basque Government's Minister for Sustainable Mobility argued for this measure as a way to foster habits to fight climate change from very young and to help families financially.
This Wednesday, the plenary session of the Basque Transport Authority (ATE) met at the seat of the Basque Government in Vitoria-Gasteiz, when the public transport leaders of the autonomous community addressed the next steps to take to encourage citizens to use the public transport systems. During the session, the majority of the public authorities taking part were in favour of travelling on buses, trains and tramways being free for children up to the age of 12; a measure that has so far been applicable up to age 6 in general.
The Basque Minister for Sustainable Mobility and Chair of the ATE, Susana García Chueca, explained to the meeting that this step is part of the work underway for a unified model for the whole Basque Country with discounts according to the use by and socio-economic level of the passengers. This model also includes specific protection for certain groups, such as young people.
Accordingly, the decision to extend free transport up to 12 years is a "necessary measure if we believe in public transport as a linchpin in the fight against climate change; free transport encourages use from early ages and responsible habits from a young age, and at the same time clearly helps families financially", stressed the Minister. The measure could directly impact 130,362 children from the whole of the Basque Country, 21,955 in Álava, 65,025 in Bizkaia and 43,382 in Gipuzkoa, and their families.
García Chueca confirmed that the Basque Government will implement this measure from January 2025 on the transport systems that it directly operates through Euskotren: the tramways of Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao, along with the train lines between Bilbao and Hendaye. The Álava provincial councillor with this portfolio, Jon Nogales, voted in favour for its implementation in Alavabus; his counterparts in Bizkaia, Sonia Pérez Ezquerra, and Gipuzkoa, Azahara Domínguez, along with the Bizkaia Councillor for Sustainable Mobility indicated that they supported the measure. In the case of Gipuzkoa, the Provincial Government is putting this matter to the vote in the Gipuzkoa Transport Territorial Authority (ATTG) to implement free transport up to 12 years old in the whole Mugi system. This measure has already been in force in Tuvisa, the urban bus operator in Vitoria-Gasteiz, since the end of 2022.
Transport subsidies in 2025
The Councillor informed the other ATE members that since the 50% transport subsidies were introduced in September 2022, the autonomous government had contributed a total of €41 million to the other Basque operators to be able to defray the 10% discount (30% comes from Central Government funding and the remaining 10% is covered by the operators themselves).
Different scenarios were analysed during the meeting, according to the decisions to be taken by Spanish Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, whose legal framework pursuant to Legislative Royal Decree 8/2023 empowers the Basque Government to provide the operators with financial aid. Should the Spanish central government decrease the subsidies, the Minister has proposed that each operator uses its own funds to keep a 20% discount for most-used personalised travel cards and season tickets; in other words, "to reward those people for their loyalty to public transport and using it regularly".