The Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition has presented the Study for the improvement of road public transport in Alta Ribagorça. This proposal, developed jointly with the Regional Council of Alta Ribagorça and the municipalities of the territory, defines a roadmap to transform mobility in the area through new regional and inter-regional connections, as well as the promotion of On-Demand Transport (TAD) with the Clic.cat service.
"Territorial cohesion is also built through mobility. That is why we are committed to combining new regular lines with flexible and on-demand services that reach all nuclei of Alta Ribagorça," stated the Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, Sílvia Paneque. She added that “improving public transport is also a tool to combat depopulation, foster population settlement, and generate new opportunities for economic and social development”.
The investment allocated to public transport will increase from the current approximately 708,000 euros annually to 1,248,426.97 euros annually, reflecting the Government's commitment to more sustainable, efficient, and accessible mobility. The Director General of Transport and Mobility, Susi López, highlighted that the study identifies concrete actions to improve internal mobility and connections with neighboring territories.
This October, the new bus line between El Pont de Suert and Vielha will become operational, offering four daily round trips from Monday to Friday throughout the year. This connection, with an estimated annual investment of 125,000 euros, will facilitate commuting for work and educational purposes. Furthermore, since last September, the regular line between Tremp and El Pont de Suert has been operating, with an annual cost of 116,000 €, adapted to school schedules, and its extension to non-school periods is being analyzed.
One of the key actions is the promotion of Clic.cat, the on-demand public transport service. In a first phase, a semi-flexible service will be implemented in the corridor between Pla de l’Ermita and El Pont de Suert, with six daily on-demand trips from Monday to Sunday, involving an annual investment of 200,000 euros. Subsequently, a point-cloud model is planned in collaboration with local taxi drivers to connect villages with municipal capitals.
These measures are part of the mobility improvement policies in rural and low-density population areas, aligned with the Statute of Rural Municipalities and the Rural Agenda of Catalonia. They aim to guarantee equal opportunities, strengthen the competitiveness of rural municipalities, and combat depopulation, facilitating access to basic services and generating development opportunities.
The mobility study analyzes the travel habits of the 4,051 inhabitants of Alta Ribagorça, who generate 12,641 daily trips. Currently, only 4.6% of mobility is done by public transport. The new measures aim to improve this figure by offering efficient alternatives to attract users, especially for intra-regional and connection trips.
