The bus sector is immersed in a high-speed transition like it has never experienced before. To the new trends of business transformation, the challenges in terms of sustainability or the digitalization of their systems, companies must add the uncertainty of whether the model with which they operate until now in Spain will change. Avanza is one of the country’s biggest players in mobility, and for years it has turned its planes into a comprehensive operator that, in addition to buses, also manages the Zaragoza tram, the Granada Metro and public bicycle systems. . . Valentín Alonso, general director and CEO of the company, receives La Información at the Global Mobility Call congress in Madrid to comment on the current situation of an industry in permanent change:
Q: How is 2023 going for Avanza?
A: In terms of urban transport, in some cities we have passenger numbers above 2019, but in others not yet. It depends a lot on the situation of the city, there are effects such as teleworking that reduces travelers by 20% as people stay at home. We are growing in metropolitan areas more than in urban transport, because that is where, in terms of price, there is a greater difference compared to moving by car. It has been a very positive year.
Q: What is your opinion of the new concession map proposed by the Ministry of Transportation?
A: Although it may not seem like it, this issue is not our priority. We are the main operator of urban transport and metropolitan areas in Spain. Years ago we decided to concentrate on that because our strategic vision contemplates that mobility is going to be concentrated in cities. Long-distance transport has less and less weight because cities continue to grow and because the State has decided to link large centers through high-speed trains. Precisely for this reason we believe that the State is not clear about the strategic vision of the long route, because it has decided to put trains in all the corridors where there were travelers, which has eliminated the concessional map that existed.
Q: How has the expansion of high-speed rail affected?
A: High speed has been placed where there was more traffic. For example, we carry 85% fewer travelers than in 2011 on the Madrid-Valencia route, something that makes the concession a loss. This must be extrapolated to Barcelona, Seville or Malaga. It is impossible to provide a long-term service if you do not put in money. The CNMC itself said that if the system is liberalized and they want to continue providing service, it will cost 400 million euros per year. We have been warning the different governments for a decade that this was going to explode, that every time high speed increases and the low-cost train enters, the bus is drained.
Q: What is your proposal to reformulate the model?
A: We advocate a concessional system similar to the one that still exists to try to take advantage of where there is still some traffic. We are obsessed with choosing between liberalization or concessions, and the discussion for me is not that, we have to go a step back, to choose whether we want a widespread public transport service that reaches everyone. If it is liberalized, businessmen will cover what is viable, and miles of relationships will be left without serving, because let’s not fool ourselves, no one will go where there are no travelers.
From there, the next question for the State should be to find out which is the most efficient system. I think the most inefficient is to liberalize, to have a service where someone only provides service and gets rich where there are travelers, but there are no buses to Jaén or Huelva. Now there are only two ways: either the State provides money, or the process is reengineered and much less service is provided than now.
“We gladly bought liberalization, but that is not our role, we chose to be the administration’s partner.”
Q: Is the new concession map going to go ahead?
A: I think not, because the autonomous communities are not going to accept that they have to provide the services that the State previously provided without being given money. Flixbus is seeking liberalization to go to places where there is more passenger traffic. We, as Avanza, were delighted to buy that scenario, but that is not our role, we choose to be the partner of the administration.
Q: What is your position regarding cabotage?
A: Flixbus is trying to detonate the entire system and cabotage is a corner to start doing it. Cabotage is another thing that drains travelers from a system that should provide a public service at the lowest possible cost.
Q: How have free subscription policies affected you?
A: The Young Summer has been super positive. However, the free long-haul passes have not brought us anything, in fact we believe that it is not a positive measure, because it has been imperceptible and requires a recurrence. The long-haul traveler is not someone who takes a route like Madrid-Valencia four times a month.
What has been a spectacular measure is the discounts on recurring subscriptions for urban and regional transport. It has been the first time that we see that the Central Administration has agreed with the regional and local administration on a tariff proposal, and we must continue to maintain it due to the social benefit it has generated. Spain has a commitment for public transport users of 35% until 2030, but has not said how it is going to do it. To achieve this, it must be made more attractive, and since it is not possible to do so through infrastructure because there is no time, it can only be done through rates and increased supply, increasing frequencies. If that policy is removed we would be taking a step backwards.
Q: With the summer discounts for young people, have you managed to fill the traffic to beach areas?
A: No. We have grown a lot in young people, but only in that segment. Of the rest of the travelers, many have switched to high speed, taking advantage of the low-cost fares. It has been good for us, we have grown somewhat, but we have had the lowest number of travelers in our history.
Q: If the central government decides not to extend the measure, do you advocate that the autonomies maintain these discounts?
A: I don’t think the autonomous communities have the capacity to sustain it, but removing it would be very bad news. They have reduced the price by 50%, if they removed it now it would mean doubling it from one day to the next. We would dramatically decrease in travelers when they are saying that people should leave their cars at home.
Lack of drivers in the sector
Q: The sector denounces a lack of drivers. Are you also suffering from it?
A: Yes, in fact we are getting worse. But there are many differences between regular and discretionary transportation. In the first, drivers have job stability and sleep at home every day, with salaries 30% above the provincial agreement. The discretionary world has nothing to do with it, it has much more uncertainty, there is competition on price and drivers sleep wherever they have to go.
So the driving role is going to be less and less attractive, because if our children no longer want to get a user license, they are less likely to do so to become a professional driver. In addition, we have a terrible regulatory context, you cannot drive a bus at 18 years old, when you get your license, and we have to wait for them to turn 21. And on top of that you have to pay the CAP, which costs 3,000 euros. Tell an 18-year-old kid who wants to work as a driver that he has to wait three years and spend that money.
Q: How are you addressing the decarbonization of the fleet?
A: Our plan is to go to zero-emission technologies in urban areas, although we depend on city councils. We are trending towards electric and hybrid buses, less and less diesel. We have acquired a hydrogen one to research with it. We will close this year with 200 electric buses, and next year we will grow to 300. We are the largest private fleet of electric buses.
Q: Is Avanza interested in acquiring new companies?
A: Our vision is not about wanting to buy companies, we want to be leaders in urban and interurban transportation, and if in that context there are interesting opportunities, of course we will be there. The last acquisition we made was three years ago, when we bought the main operator in the Basque Country. For us it was a strategic move, we were not present there and it suited us. We now have the financial capacity to do it and if it fits, we will be delighted.