Initially this card-purse, which is delivered with a charge of 10 euros, will be used for public transport, but new uses and services will be incorporated.
Benidorm launches the 'Citizen Card', available from Monday for users of Bono Oro and school transport
Benidorm City Council has started the implementation of the 'Citizen Card', a card purse for the use of public transport in beneficial conditions to which new uses and municipal services will be incorporated later. As explained today by the mayor, Toni Pérez, The creation of this 'Citizen Card' pursues a double objective: "to modernize the services provided to the registered population and encourage and promote the use of public transport by offering advantageous conditions". In fact, this is one of the measures contemplated in the 'Benidorm + Cerca' program, for which the City Council has received a subsidy of 1.1 million from the Ministry of Mobility, Transport and Urban Agenda.
The mayor has reported that "this 'Citizen Card' is going to be made progressively available to the registered population, starting with people who are already users of the urban bus Gold Voucher and also for students with the School Transport Voucher Municipal". In subsequent phases, the rest of the population registered in Benidorm will have access to them.
For this first phase, “the City Council has generated 4,000 cards ex officio, which, as in later stages, will be delivered with an initial charge of 10 euros; the amount that the owner can use in public transport”. Once that amount has been consumed, which does not expire, "the card can be recharged on any of Benidorm's public buses, with fixed amounts of 10 or 20 euros."
Toni Pérez has stressed that “the use of the ‘Citizen Card’ will entail discounts on the price of the urban bus ticket; discounts that will range between 10% and 66% depending on the type of user: General, School, Social, Young or Gold”. For its part, as before, users of Pepa Esperanza centre will have two free daily trips.
This morning the mayor, together with the Councilor for Mobility, José Ramón González de Zárate, Lola Fernández and Juan Carlos Gonzaga, financial manager and head of operations of Grupo Avanza, proceeded to the symbolic delivery of the 'Citizen Card' to three people over 65 years of age users of the Gold Bonus.
Users who already have a Gold Voucher will be able to pick up their 'Citizen Card' from next Monday, August 8, at 09:00 a.m. at the Municipal Registry, located on the ground floor of the City Hall, by presenting their DNI. The mayor has specified that "there is no deadline to collect the card and as many as users of the Gold Voucher have been registered, so that, within the opening hours of the City Council, each person can approach the municipal offices in depending on your availability and the day that best suits you”.
Regarding the students of the Municipal School Voucher, Toni Pérez has clarified that "each student will receive their card from the company Grupo Avanza, following the same procedure that has been done so far for the delivery of the voucher at the beginning of the course ".
Grupo Avanza have stressed that "those people who still have a balance on their Gold Bonus or Municipal School Bonus cards will be able to continue using them, but once these amounts are exhausted they will no longer be able to top up their old bonuses and must use the new 'Card Citizen'”.
Toni Pérez has insisted that "the provision of the 'Citizen Card' for the rest of the population will be done in stages". In this way, "the population will be summoned by age groups, starting with the population over 65 years of age who do not have a Gold Bonus". Unlike this initial phase, in the following phases, it must be the interested person who requests the issuance of the card. To make this procedure as easy as possible, in addition to face-to-face service – which is provided in Spanish, English, Russian and French – a web space will be set up, which will be announced in the near future.
The mayor has emphasized that "the only requirements to access this 'Citizen Card' will be to be registered in Benidorm, maintain the registration and be over 3 years old".
Likewise, he has advanced that the issuance of the card "will not have any cost for the user". It will, however, renew it in case of loss, damage or theft, with that cost being 4 euros.
In the near future, and depending on how the first phase of delivery of the 'Citizen Card' evolves, the remaining phases may be launched. When the time comes, the documentation to be provided by the applicants will also be reported.
