Paulo Muacho, from Livre, recalled that “in Sado, the boat has always been the bridge between Setúbal and Troia and is the transport that thousands of people use to go to work, to go to the hospital, to access public services and to go to the beaches, and not a luxury for tourists”.
“The inclusion of this crossing in the Tariff Reduction Support Program is a basic requirement to ensure mobility in that region and those populations”confirmed the BE deputy, Mariana Mortágua.
For deputy Paula Santos, from the PCP, who presented a draft resolution to “rescue the right to public river transport between the banks of the Sado River”, this is a problem that should have been resolved a long time ago and which means “a discrimination against the population, against those who work in Setúbal or Troia and who need to use this public transport”.
In turn, PS deputy André Pinotes Baptista recalled that the “end of the concession contract (2026) is the time to make a difference”remembering that “When a citizen in Setúbal wants to go to Troia, they have to make a choice: either they pay 50 euros per family for this trip, or they travel an hour and 23 minutes on three roads and spend 15 kilograms of CO2 (carbon dioxide)”. He further highlighted that, “in addition to involving the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in the search for a solution, it is important to also involve the Intermunicipal Community of the Alentejo Coast (CIMAL)”.
Social Democrat deputy Paulo Edson Cunha acknowledged that the prices for the Setúbal/Troia river crossing “are clearly high”, but added that this is a result of the current concession contract and considered the different draft resolutions that were voted on this Friday to be “untimely”.
“The Government is studying a national pass where this connection could be included. Therefore, these proposals not only become untimely but even counterproductive. The PSD is, as it has always been, attentive and available to do what has not yet been done by others”he justified.
In the same sense, CDS-PP deputy Paulo Núncio said that the Navegante Pass aims to “facilitate access to public transport for those who seek to travel between home and work, between home and their job”, but warned that the “resources are not infinite”.
“Given the resource restrictions and the priorities that this support must have, we understand that spontaneous changes should not be introduced, individual changes to a concession contract that, as already mentioned, is, at the moment, coming to an end, especially because these changes would lead to a transport policy that would be based on a pass that goes beyond the Lisbon metropolitan area, which also, in our opinion, does not make any sense”said the CDS-PP deputy.