Benidorm opens the application period for the university transport service to San Vicente and Sant Joan campuses

Benidorm City Council, through the Department of Education, has opened the application period for young university students in the city to apply for the university transportation service to the campuses of the University of Alicante (UA) in San Vicente del Raspeig and the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) in Sant Joan d'Alacant. This is known as the UNIBUS service, which aims to "offer this group of students an organised means of transportation to facilitate their trips to the university, with a financial discount for those registered as residents, which also reduces the out-of-pocket costs they incur for these trips," as explained by the Councillor for Education, Maite Moreno.

Thus, the councillor recalled that "the City Council finances part of the cost of the trip for students registered in Benidorm." Specifically, 33.34% of the UNIBUS fare is paid to each registered user who has requested the service, who, in turn, pays the remaining 66.66%.

Students interested in using this university transport service, which is also open to staff working at these university centres, can register and pay the corresponding amount on the website www.unibusbenidorm.com starting yesterday, August 4th. Once the initial payment has been made, the student must process the service application through the City Council's Electronic Office (http://sede.benidorm.org), accessing the Service Catalogue, Education, and UNIBUS 2024/2025 Aid Application. For this process, the completed and signed application must be submitted, both in scanned form and as a PDF, along with a photocopy of their ID, proof of registration, and the payment transfer.

As in previous academic years, there will be three phases for using university transportation: from September 8 to October 8, from October 10 to January 23, and from January 26 to June 13. Each phase will have its corresponding payment schedule, as established in the service conditions.

Also, as in previous academic years, priority will be given to students registered in Benidorm before June 1, 2025, when using this transportation. The second priority group is those registered in Benidorm who work on the San Vicente del Raspeig or Sant Joan d'Alacant campuses, as well as students studying undergraduate or vocational training modules in specialities not served in Benidorm and for whom the UNIBUS service is convenient due to schedules and stops. The third and final group is students or workers from neighbouring towns, who can also use the service, but without the discount granted by the Benidorm City Council.

According to data provided by the Education Councillor, "an average of 286 people used this service during the 2024/2025 academic year, the vast majority of whom were registered in Benidorm, although at times peaks of up to 315 total users were reached."

As for the stops, there are ten available at different points in the city: the "Vicente Pérez Devesa" bus stop, on Avenida Severo Ochoa, next to the Lope de Vega school; Ametlla del Mar in front of Mercaloix; Avenida del Mediterráneo 23; Avenida Europa 16; Avenida de Alfonso Puchades next to the Nuevo Nevada cafeteria and next to the Economy Cash supermarket; Avenida Jaime I next to Burger King; Avenida Vicente Pérez Devesa near the Mediterrànea Secondary School bus stop; and Avenida de Benissa in front of the health center, from where the bus now runs directly to both campuses. First, to the UA, where it makes three more stops: Aulario II, Sports Centre, and Law School; and then, to the UMH.

In total, eight outbound routes are scheduled from Benidorm, between 6:28 a.m. and 2:28 p.m., and another eight return routes from the campuses, with schedules ranging from 12:10 p.m. to 9:10 p.m.

Moreno noted that "through UNIBUS, we make it easier for university students in Benidorm, as well as those who work on both campuses or pursue vocational training courses nearby, to travel by public transport; with a wide range of schedules and stop locations; and also at a lower cost than if they had to travel by private vehicle or take buses on their own."