MADRID, 22 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The National Association of Coach Transport Entrepreneurs (Anetra) trusts that the new Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, will be "key" to resolving the "blockade" situation experienced by the bus sector, which in the definition of the Ministry itself, "has an obsolete design and is threatened by great legal instability with more than half of the concessions expired or annulled."

The bus association Anetra explained this Wednesday in a press release that it expects from Puente a "greater commitment" for the future with small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in discretionary, special regular and tourist transport.

The business organization has congratulated Puente on his appointment and has made itself available to the minister "to continue working on the development of sustainable mobility represented by the discretionary transport of passengers by bus."

Specifically, Anetra wants operators in the sector to be able to improve the efficiency of passenger transport by updating the concession system that encourages competition among SMEs; facilitate the energy transition of vehicle fleets; adapt the Low Emission Zones (ZBE) to the reality of the "valuable services" provided by discretionary ones, and promote the recruitment and retention of young talent.

He also welcomed the fact that the Ministry, in its new name, introduced the term sustainable in the name, and took the opportunity to remember that the bus "is one of the most sustainable modes of transport, with emissions per passenger perfectly competitive with the railway."

Finally, the employers' association has stressed that it should be a priority of the Government to introduce in the Sustainable Mobility Law project mechanisms that improve competition, transforming the current system to make it "more efficient" and allowing the 2,800 small companies that exist to compete under better conditions. They provide service in Spain.