The City Council tenders the new public transport service that includes a reinforcement of the three current lines.

Waiting time on the downtown line will be reduced by half with the addition of a second vehicle, the number of daily trips on the west line will be doubled and the east line will be reinforced with more frequent buses.

The Estepona City Council informs that it has tendered the new concession of the regular urban public passenger transport service, which includes a reinforcement of the three current lines both in frequency of passage and in pick-up and drop-off points.

Among the main novelties, it is worth mentioning that line 1 (downtown area), which will run from the access traffic circle to the Alcazaba Beach urbanization (eastern area of the urban area) to the Beverly Hills urbanization (western area), will reduce the waiting time by half with the addition of a second bus. In this way, the frequency between one vehicle and the next will be 20 minutes.

During their route, the buses -one in each direction of the line- will pass through Del Carmen Avenue, Huerta Nueva neighborhood, Puerta del Mar Avenue, Juan Carlos I Avenue, Downtown, Industrial Area, Andalusia Avenue and Litoral Avenue.

The schedule of line 1 includes 42 daily routes, which will start from 07:00 hours at each end of the line, (Mcdonalds and Beverly Hills urbanization), until 21.30 hours. The frequency of each stop will be approximately 20 minutes. As a novelty, this line will incorporate a stop at the Industrial Estate, from 07.20 am to 18.30 pm.

As for line 2, which corresponds to the west area, it is circular and runs from the stop located on Avenida Juan Carlos I to Bermuda Beach urbanization (western area of the municipality of Estepona), passing through the Hospital, which is incorporated into the itinerary. During the transit, in addition to traveling a stretch of line through the town center, specifically, the one between the stops at Avenida Juan Carlos I and Beverly Hills, will pass through the urbanizations Guadalobón, Arena Beach, Don Pedro, Costa Natura, Arroyo Enmedio, Estepona Hospital, Colegio Juan XXIII, Bahia Dorada, Costa Galera and Bermuda Beach.

This line will be reinforced with 8 daily routes, double the number currently offered to users. The schedule of line 2, which will make a circular route, will start from 07:00 hours, from the stop at Avenida Juan Carlos I to the stop of the Bermuda Beach urbanization, and until 20.30 hours. As it will coincide in part with the route of line 1, users who need to travel from Avenida Juan Carlos I to Guadalobón, will benefit from a higher frequency of buses.

In the case of line 3, corresponding to the eastern part of the municipality, the service will be reinforced with the authorization to the company that currently performs the intercity transport (Avanza Group) so that it can, from now on, pick up and drop off passengers within the urban core. This company will offer this service, every 30 minutes, at the same stops where line 3 currently runs, from the traffic circle at Avenida España and Avenida Andalucía to the urbanization of Mar y Monte (Benahavís intersection).

However, the tender will give priority to the company that establishes a new service for the additional coverage of the eastern area. In this way, this enclave of the municipality could have a double reinforcement in terms of public transport service, since there would be two companies offering the same route.

The base bidding budget for the provision of the service has been set at 711,089 euros (this amount does not include VAT) for a period of two years. Therefore, the economic consideration of the concessionaire will be a maximum municipal subsidy of 355,544 euros per year, plus the fares paid by the users. In this regard, it should be noted that in the new contract the Consistory includes an annual subsidy that almost triples that currently allocated to the provision of this public service.

Among the award criteria, in addition to the provision of the service in the eastern area, the reduction in the base bid price, as well as reductions in the rates for users.

The concessionary company will be in charge of the complete maintenance or replacement of the vehicles, as well as the management of complaints and suggestions from users.

In addition, the company will equip the entire fleet assigned to the service with an operating and information support system (SAEI), which will provide information on board the vehicles about the next stop and other information about the service visually and acoustically.

This system shall have all the elements and components necessary for its correct operation, including software, control center equipment. The on-board equipment comprising the SAEI shall be new at the time of its incorporation to the service.

The entire fleet assigned to the service will be equipped with an advanced active safety system to reduce the accident rate by means of a collision prevention system based on artificial vision sensors and real-time alerts.

The City Council will carry out the controls it deems necessary to ensure that the service is being provided with the highest quality. These controls will consist of inspections of specific services, controls at strategic points on the routes, verification of data and surveys of users of the service, either with its own personnel or with a company contracted for this purpose.