Más Madrid has in the Asamblea de Madrid a Proposición no de ley submitted, calling on the Community of Madrid to launch a €15 million funding programme for municipal school bus routes. According to the party, 23 towns in the region with more than 50,000 inhabitants would benefit. The routes are to be integrated into existing urban public transport networks and incur no additional costs for families.
Más Madrid cites the “En bus al cole” in Rivas-Vaciamadrid. There, a municipally organised service has operated since the 2024/2025 school year, with several routes, stops at schools and accompanying staff. The city council reports a marked reduction in car traffic at the start and end of the school day, as well as greater certainty for families in planning. Specific local measurements are cited as evidence; independent regional assessments are not yet available.
The initiative comes shortly before the next debate on the state of the region. The opposition group led by Manuela Bergerot aims, in its view, to highlight shortcomings in the regional government’s education and transport policies. The demand is addressed to the Government of the Comunidad de Madrid, which would have to decide on the scale, criteria and distribution of any grants.
Más Madrid says the programme should be accompanied by further measures: safe walking and cycling routes to schools, additional traffic signs, road-safety education in school curricula, and meeting points for organised walking groups. The party also calls for quality and safety standards to be set and for technical support to integrate the routes into the respective urban transport networks.
The fact is that the PNL is now a formal opposition proposal. Whether and how the regional government responds remains open and depends on the parliamentary process in the Asamblea de Madrid. If 23 municipalities had to launch services in parallel, questions of funding allocation, operational organisation, accessibility and supervision duties would need to be resolved. Reliable operating-cost estimates from the towns and coordination with the respective public transport operators would also be necessary.
Forecasts on this remain speculative. The only certainty is that the political decision on the €15 million and the design of a funding framework rests with the Comunidad de Madrid. The experience gained so far in Rivas-Vaciamadrid offers a practical point of reference, but does not replace a comprehensive regional evaluation.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).