The bus to Greek’s tower are another exposed nerve of public mobility in the city of coral: the service managed by EAV it is judged entirely unreliable from many testimonies collected and also the direct experience gained during our investigation “Mom I lost the bus” does not deny this opinion.
Bus to Torre del Greco, an endless inconvenience
After the numerous testimonies of inconvenience by citizens of Greek’s tower who use public transport to get around the city, our newspaper has launched a reportage to better explain the problems: the result is that many citizens prefer to rely on the service collective taxisthe so-called “minibuses” (supplementary and non-scheduled service) despite the many flaws and inefficiencies complain about the latter.
According to the stories of numerous citizens, the bus service operated by EAV is considered so unreliable which isn’t even worth waiting at the stops: because it’s not easy to find at all timetables and even those that the most patient and geeks can find from EAV website – a true digital jungle for the average user – they would almost never be respected.
More roads, fewer lines: the Torrese paradox
According to the transport company’s official website, urban lines that cover the city of Torre del Greco are five, identified with letters B, C, D, E, F. Result of a reduction in service compared to a few years ago when there were also lines A and lines G to cover further peripheral areas: in contrast to what happens in many other cities where the principle of strengthening public transport is followed to discourage the use of private cars.
And it’s a real paradox if you think about it in the last 20 years the city of Torre del Greco has seen the birth of several new arteriessuch as the Ferdinando II di Borbone road, viale Crescenzo Mazza (parallel to via Litoranea), the motorway roundabout with the related slip road between via Scappi and via Cavallo: all totally uncovered by the public transport service.
Zero information on stops, timetables remain a mystery
But even in the centre, things are no better: i stop posts have in many cases been vandalised, abandoned to time and rust, torn up or never replaced after road works. And even when they are there their usefulness is almost nil: no indication on the lines that stop at that point, on the timetables, on the usable routes. Anyone who finds an EAV stop in Torre del Greco doesn’t know where they can get there, how much the ticket costs, or what time the bus runs.
The timetables are a true mirage: on the other hand, there are several testimonies that tell of waits of up to an hour and a half at stops, compared to official communications which on the EAV website promise an average of a bus every half hour. But cases of this would not be rare “skipped” races with all due respect – so to speak – to the users.
Empty buses, packed minibuses and traffic at a standstill: no response from EAV
A condition of overall unreliability which we encountered during our reportage, observing how – except in rare cases – city buses pass mostly half-empty: a symptom, perhaps, of an inadequate response to the mobility needs of the citizens of a city of 90,000 inhabitants spread over 30 square km.
The need to move, to connect the center and the huge suburbs, among other things is demonstrated by the extreme need to resort to the use of private transport: just look at the constant traffic for proof. Or listen to the complaints of those who don’t have a car and is content to travel in “minibuses” that cram 18 people into the space of 9 because he believes he “has no alternatives”.
The company EAV Srl, contacted several times by email in several months, never considered it necessary to provide a response to the questions we asked, positioning ourselves as a megaphone for public opinion: are there any critical issues or particular problems relating to the provision of the public transport service in the city of Torre del Greco? What are the needs or complaints most raised by users and what is EAV doing to address them? Questions to which many others could be added, but which remain unanswered.
