A passenger on the Palma EMT 35 line has denounced the overcrowding on a bus on Wednesday morning. This was despite the fact that capacity has now been limited to 30%. "People have almost rioted. Many begged the driver not to stop any more."
The bus company said that compliance with capacity is the responsibility of the driver and of the monitoring system for passenger fleets. A statement added that the service has been reinforced by 15% and equipped with buses with greater capacity, especially on the busiest routes. There are buses in reserve which can be used in the event that there are higher numbers of passengers.
Juan Antonio Salamanca of the USO union says that this reinforcement is insufficient. Every day there are between twenty and thirty buses in garages which could be used. This is not being done, "as it involves money and they say there is a large deficit". "Ultimately, they are prioritising finances to the detriment of passenger health."
He adds that the works committee has demanded that some seats are "sealed" so that they can't be used, "but they don't want to do this". Salamanca is critical of it being left to drivers to be responsible for capacity compliance. "If the drivers stops at each stop, people jump on, and if he stops only to let people off, passengers get angry and start pounding on the door. If he opens to let two or three in, up to ten will enter."
The union representative believes that it should be inspectors who carry out this control at the main stops. Right now, however, "there are no inspectors on the streets, including those who are doing administrative tasks".