The Servir Portimão opposition coalition has slammed the council’s new bus station as being nothing more than political window dressing, “a result of the political stubbornness and electoral despair of the current mayor, Isilda Gomes."
Wannabe mayor, José Pedro Caçorino, issued a statement claiming that "this new infrastructure does not meet the minimum requirements to serve the Portimão population in a dignified manner."
One of the main problems, according to Servir Portimão, has to do with the difficult road access for buses coming in from the A22 or EN125 which will have to go around the roundabout on top of the underpass, or turn left near the railway crossing to reach the new terminal near the Arade exhibition centre.
The coalition says that bus passengers with luggage will not use the service if it leaves them at the new terminal after dark as it is some distance to well lit and fully built-up areas.
As for the mayor's announcment that the ‘Vai e Vem’ bus service will connecting city routes to the new bus terminal, Servir Portimão says that this "will not mean a cost of hundreds of thousands of euros per year, as changing the route will means kids will be late for school so parents will opt to drop them off by car, thus increasing the number of rush hour vehicles in the city."
The new bus terminal "does not guarantee even the minimum conditions of comfort for passengers, since in the winter months there is insufficient shelter from rain and cold, while in the summer months they will suffer in the heat due to a lack of air conditioning."
José Pedro Caçorino of course has a better, if more expensive plan, which involves a walkway across the railway line on a route past the exhibition centre to connect to the city near the old bridge.
It is just weeks before the October 1st local elections and by announcing this new bus terminal, Gomes would have foreseen an attack from the opposition.
Whether this announcement will do her any damage remains to be seen in the election results but she is credited with bringing the council’s finances under control after the previous mayor left the council with debts of around €140 million, an achievement that was not without pain but noteworthy none-the-less.
