Lisbon, Dec. 17, 2025 (Lusa) - The Lisbon Municipal Assembly has approved, with IL abstaining, the extension of free travel for senior citizens on the Navegante Urbano senior citizen scheme, valid on the Carris urban network and the Metropolitano and CP urban networks, until 2029.
Submitted by the Vice-Mayor of Lisbon, Gonçalo Reis (PSD), who is responsible for Finance and Mobility, the proposal to amend the agreement on free public transport in the city was approved by the Municipal Assembly with the votes in favour of the majority, namely PS, Livre, BE, PCP, PEV, PAN, PSD, CDS-PP and Chega, and with the abstention of IL.
In the municipal government, led by PSD/CDS-PP/IL under the chairmanship of Carlos Moedas (PSD), the proposal was approved unanimously, including the votes of IL.
Justifying the abstention in the Municipal Assembly, IL deputy Pedro Bugarin said that "age is not, cannot be, and never constitutes a criterion for the allocation of social benefits or similar", because "it does not define anyone's economic capacity, and is therefore a socially unfair criterion".
Pedro Bugarin also said that the IL abstained to "maintain consistency" with the party's vote in 2022, when the proposal for free public transport in the city was approved.
In 2022, Lisbon City Council implemented free public transport for young people and the elderly in the city, through an agreement with Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa (TML), valid until 31 December 2025 and costing up to €14.9 million annually.
The proposed addendum to the agreement with TML, valid until 2029, applies only to citizens over 65 years of age, as the generalisation of free travel for young people at the national and metropolitan levels, effective since December 2024, has rendered the need to maintain this benefit by the municipality unnecessary.
Thus, the addendum to the agreement will have an annual expenditure of up to €8.5 million, according to the council's proposal regarding free travel for senior citizens with tax residence in Lisbon.
PS deputy Luís Coelho considered that the council could "go further" and study the implementation of extending free public transport to all city residents from 2027, as proposed by the socialist council. Still, the municipal executive rejected this, with votes against from the PSD/CDS-PP/IL leadership.
In response, the deputy mayor argued that extending free transport to the elderly, in addition to young people, "is a balanced solution", and considered that extending free transport to the entire population is not appropriate, noting that he was even surprised by the PS proposal, despite it being an election commitment of the PS/Livre/BE/PAN coalition, led by socialist Alexandra Leitão.
Gonçalo Reis defended the "user-pays" concept, so that the municipality has the capacity to invest, increase supply and improve the quality of public transport services.
"The policy of total free travel is a policy with good intentions but poor results. The right policy in terms of transport, infrastructure and mobility is to increase investment," stressed the vice-president, pointing out that the references cited by the PS, such as the cities of Tallinn, Dunkirk, Aubagne, Calais and Niort, are not major European capitals.
In the 2025-2029 term, the Lisbon Municipal Assembly, which consists of a total of 75 councillors, has 10 municipal groups, respectively from the PS (24), PSD (22), IL (six), Chega (six), PCP (five), CDS-PP (four), Livre (three), BE (two), PEV (two) and PAN (one).
Under the chairmanship of Social Democrat Carlos Moedas, the municipal executive, composed of 17 members, includes eight elected members from the PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition, who are the only ones with assigned portfolios and govern without an absolute majority. Opposition comprises four councillors from the PS, two from Chega, one from Livre, one from BE, and one from PCP.
SSM/ADB // ADB.
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