Notice to users of the train, bus, private vehicle or plane because the problems are becoming chronic. Let’s start with daily mobility that offers two images during rush hour. One is that of crowded and unreliable public transport, and another is that of thousands of vehicles trapped in traffic jams to access the city. I ask the experts if there is a solution and their answer is disturbing: Neither in the short nor in the medium term. Although there may be palliative actions. And in the long term? Yes, but it will take a while to see it, if we see it at all because in our country it is very difficult for us to carry out the works.
Public transport operators confirm the full recovery of travelers after the pandemic. Passenger records are now being broken every month and they are already close to the limit of their capacity. In the case of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat they have already reached this ceiling, while in TMB and Rodalies they are approaching at full speed.
Technicians work on offering solutions to avoid dying of success while dreaming of the arrival of the expected investments that will significantly expand the public transport offering. That is why today there is talk of creating bus lines instead of train tracks because the former are cheaper and can be activated quickly. But everyone knows that this option is a patch because the train or subway is the most efficient transportation. A train carries a thousand passengers on a trip, while a bus only carries 60 people. Therefore, 16 buses are needed to make a single rail trip. Non-viable.
Faced with this reality, citizens continue to hear political promises to increase public transportation that are not fulfilled or that their materialization takes forever. Such is the delay in investments that the majority of infrastructure plans that are underway are either old commitments that are now being addressed after years of waiting, or they are rehabilitation of aging facilities.
Let us not forget that 8 million people already live in Catalonia and the shame is that a great leap is not seen on the horizon that would significantly expand the public transport offer to make the change of model viable. We are talking about future projects such as the construction of new railway tunnels in Barcelona or train lines beyond the first metropolitan ring where the population expelled from the capital resides because they cannot afford housing. Nor is the north-south rail connection possible without passing through the city center.
Not all of the above is addressed, but talk continues about decarbonization and the need to reduce private traffic without offering an alternative. If only 25% of the people who use the car to go to work decided tomorrow to switch to the train or bus, public transport would be unable to absorb that demand. “Impossible. The structure of the entire FGC network would need to be duplicated,” say the experts. Then what do we do? We only have to manage the meantime and make what we have more efficient while waiting for the arrival of the manna of money.
And what about airplanes? The airlines have warned of the risk of congestion at Barcelona airport this summer because we are going to reach the limit of its capacity. The Government’s response has been to propose an extension of the use of the slopes during July and August. Also in this case, the solution is punctual to address the urgency and save time, but it does not attack the structural problem. Furthermore, it will not be viable this summer because they have previously promised to soundproof the surrounding homes.
Conclusion: Let’s arm ourselves with patience because we will continue to be trapped in public transport and stuck in the car for quite some time to come, while we cross our fingers that the bad omens in El Prat do not come true. We are warned.
