ALL night buses in the Greater Madrid region will provide à la carte stops for women and under-18s after a pilot scheme operating these on six lines proved successful.
The regional government launched 'on-demand' stops on a selection of bus connections in January, and as at the end of July, a total of 489 passengers – of whom 95% were female – had used the system.
It is likely this would have been much higher, but Spain was in lockdown for nearly three months, a situation at its most restrictive in Madrid, and only 'essential' workers or those who could not walk to the supermarket would have been using buses at all, especially after dark.
The other 5% who used the 'request-stop' facility were teens and children under 18, of both sexes.
Until now, these were only available on after-dark buses to and from the city centre and the suburbs and satellite towns of Pinto, Las Rozas, Fuenlabrada, Leganés, Parla, and Valdemoro, which – naturally – included all stop-off points within the city itself en route.
All the passenger has to do is tell the driver when they board where they want to get off, and sit as near to the front as possible.
They then use the front door of the bus to alight, rather than the 'usual' side door for scheduled stops.
At present, though, stops will only be made on request where there is a pavement available, of at least 1.5 metres (4'11”) wide, to prevent traffic accidents, and can only be made where they are actually along the route – drivers cannot make a detour to drop someone off at their front door.
But an à la carte stop means women, children and adolescents out after dark will be able to cut short their walk home after getting off, giving them greater safety.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com