Open an app on your phone, book a ride and wait for the agreed time to be picked up at a certain point. Until now, this ritual was applied to means of transport such as cabs, but from Thursday, December 19, it will also be available for collective vehicles with the launch of the first on-demand bus in Madrid.
The Municipal Transport Company (EMT) has announced that this new service will be launched in the northwest of the capital, specifically in the district of Fuencarral-El Pardo. It will benefit the neighborhoods of Pilar, Arroyo del Fresno, Mirasierra, Montecarmelo and Tres Olivos, “areas that have experienced a large population growth in recent years,” says the EMT.
The on-demand bus will operate every day of the week from 7 am to 8 pm and both the payment methods and the fares to travel on it will be the same as those in force throughout the municipal bus network.
How does Madrid’s first on-demand bus work?
The bus route, the EMT explains, has been conceived “as a flexible route, adapting on each trip to the reservations previously made by users through an app.” Said app is called Smart Bus Madrid and will be available for download from Wednesday, December 18 through the App Store and Google Play.
To book the trip, passengers will have to request it through the app indicating either the departure time or the desired arrival time at the destination. The reservation can be made immediately or up to 24 hours in advance of the time of travel.
Once the reservation is made, the app will locate the user on a map and will establish the nearest stop or bus shelter of the EMT Madrid network as the pick-up point, also indicating the approximate pick-up time.