A new agreement between Salt City Council and ATM Girona

The City Council of Salt and ATM Girona have signed a new agreement that allows the T-Mes card bonus to be increased from 40 to 50%. This card is a transport ticket that can be applied for by young students from Salt who are studying outside the municipality and who are between 16 and 25 years old. With this improvement, students will pay just 12.50 euros per month to travel on intercity lines, instead of the 15 euros it cost until now.

How to apply for the bonus

Students who already have the T-Mes card for this academic year do not have to go through any formalities, as the new reduced price will be applied automatically when they make the monthly top-up. Those who do not yet have it, can request it until February 15, which is when the second call for this transport ticket closes. In the first call, around 150 cards were granted, but usually around 180 Salt students benefit from this bonus each year.

A novelty for students who go to Zone 2

The new agreement also includes an important innovation for students who travel to Zone 2 of ATM Girona, which covers municipalities such as Bordils, Flaçà, Juià or Sant Jordi Desvalls, among others. Until now, these students could not access the T-Mes bonus, but now they can. Thus, the cost of the card for two zones will be 18.75 euros per month, once the discounts from other administrations have been applied and the 50% assumed by Salt City Council.

Other municipal discounts for public transport

The bonus for students is added to other initiatives promoted by the Salta council to encourage the use of public transport. For example, people with a disability of 65% or more can apply for a card that entitles them to 20 free trips per month on lines L3, L4 and L9, which are managed by the company TEiSA. People over the age of 70 can also request a similar card to make 20 monthly trips with these lines. In addition, the City Promotion Office offers a point of care to request the ATM T-16, a free card for boys and girls from 4 to 16 years of age, to encourage the use of public transport from childhood.

Statements by the mayor and the councilor for the environment

The mayor of Salt, Jordi Viñas, has emphasized that “the increase in the bonus for students is another step by the government to facilitate the mobility of our students who are trained outside the municipality, to guarantee that mobility will not be obstacle to follow the studies they have chosen”. In addition, Viñas remarked that “it is added to other bonuses for the elderly such as the elderly or the new bonus that can be requested for people with a degree of disability of 65% or higher”.

For her part, the councilor for the environment, Mireia Valentí, has highlighted “the importance of facilitating the use of public transport to guarantee a municipality and, in turn, a more sustainable metropolitan area and giving alternatives to citizens so that they do not have to use the private vehicle”. Valentí recalled that 2023 was a record year for the L3, L4 and L9 intercity lines, which carried 2.6 million passengers last year.

A new agreement between Salt City Council and Girona’s ATM allows for an increase in the ticket bonus

Young students from Salt who are studying outside the municipality will be able to benefit from a 50% bonus on the T-Mes card, thanks to the new agreement signed between Salt City Council and Girona’s ATM. This bonus is an increase compared to the 40% that was applied until now. Thus, Saltenc students will only have to pay 12.50 euros per month to travel by public transport, instead of 15 euros.

Students who already have the card for this academic year will not have to do any additional procedures, but will receive the new discount automatically when they make the monthly top-up. Those who have not yet applied can do so until February 15, which is when the second call for this transport ticket closes. In the first call, around 150 cards were granted, but around 180 beneficiaries are usually reached each year.

The bonus also extends to ATM Girona Zone 2

Another novelty of the agreement between the council and ATM Girona is that for the first time students will be allowed to travel to Zone 2 of ATM Girona, where there are municipalities such as Bordils, Flaçà, Juià or Sant Jordi Desvalls , among others, can apply for the bonus. This will mean that the price of the card for two zones will be 18.75 euros per month, after applying the discounts of other administrations and the 50% assumed by the City Council of Salt.

Other municipal discounts for public transport

This bonus is added to other measures offered by the council to promote the use of public transport with intercity lines. Recently, the deadline opened for people with a disability of 65% or more to apply for the card at the Senior Resource Center, which will give them 20 free trips per month. People over the age of 70 in Salt can also request the card to have 20 trips per month on the L3, L4 and L9 lines, which are managed by the company TEiSA. In addition, Salt City Council has a point of care at the City Promotion Office where you can request the T-16 ATM, a free card for children from 4 years to at 16, to encourage the habit of public transport from childhood.

Another step to facilitate the mobility of students and the sustainability of the municipality

The mayor of Salt, Jordi Viñas, emphasizes that “the increase in the bonus for students is another step by the government to facilitate the mobility of our students who are trained outside the municipality, to ensure that mobility will not be an obstacle to continue the studies they have chosen”. Likewise, Viñas points out that “it is in addition to other bonuses for people with disabilities such as the elderly or the new bonus that can be requested for people with a degree of disability of 65% or more”.

A few days ago, with data from the company TEiSA, it was found that 2023 was a record year for the intercity lines L3, L4 and L9, which carried 2.6 million passengers last year. For this reason, the councilor for the environment, Mireia Valentí, highlights “the importance of facilitating the use of public transport to guarantee a municipality and, in turn, a more sustainable metropolitan area and to give alternatives to citizens so that they do not have to use the private vehicle”.