The Fare Integration Committee made up of representatives of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, Bilbao City Council, the Basque Government, rail operator RENFE, Metro Bilbao and CTB (the Bizkaia Transport Consortium) – has approved the incorporation of persons accompanying wheelchair users, the blind and children as specific passenger types and the delimitation of zones for all forms of public transport in Bizkaia.

Today marks the launch of an information campaign for these new, simplified tickets. They can be used for journeys on Metro Bilbao, Euskotren, the Bilbao tramway and (for users aged 26 and under registered as residents in Bizkaia) on Bizkaibus services.

On other matters, the General Board today approved a cooperation agreement with the municipal council of Urduliz under which the council is to receive €400,000 to urbanise the area of land that will become available once the Metro line through the municipality is transferred underground.

The Bizkaia Transport Consortium (CTB) has begun work to refurbish the metro station in Plentzia. The work will entail a thorough refurbishment of the building and the construction of a new side entrance to replace the existing entrance. The project is expected to last 3 months and has a budget of € 213,300.

CTB, the Bizkaia Transport Consortium, in cooperation with Metro Bilbao, is taking part again this year in the children’s Christmas funfair with a stand that seeks to entertain youngsters while promoting the use of public transport and the Barik card. There are four areas, each for a different age group: a model car racing area with various circuits, a balance bike area for younger children, a games library and a photo area.

The new multi-mode tickets are simpler, and the same tickets will be valid for three of Bizkaia’s main transport systems: Metro Bilbao, Eusko Tren and the Bilbao tramway system.

As from Wednesday 23 November single tickets can be purchased up to 4 days in advance rather than only on the day of travel as was the case up to now.

The scheme seeks to promote a change in habits regarding water, energy, mobility, purchasing and waste management to encourage sustainability at schools and in homes.

The project is to include the construction of the substation building, the electroca substation itself, the power supply line from the Iberdrola transformer centre and the power supply line to Line 2

CTB's “Barik NFC” app has now exceeded 60,000 top-ups, at an average of 400 per day. 30,100 users have downloaded the free app, which enables Barik cards to be topped up from mobile phones running on Android operating systems".

The Bizkaia Transport Consortium will put out to tender the modification to supply these initial energy-saving equipment that will cut current consumption by 60%, starting with 30 new motors to be fitted to 17 elevators.

The tender envisages a budget of EUR 172,000 and an implementation period of 6 months, and will lead to savings of between EUR 8,000 and 10,000 per year, with a 10-month return on investment.