The project developed by Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alentejo Litoral (CIMAL) starts today and aims to connect the headquarters of the municipalities of Alcácer do Sal, Grândola, Santiago do Cacém, Sines, in the district of Setúbal, and Odemira (Beja) to ten bathing areas.

“The seven lines will operate in the months of July and August, using buses from Transportes do Alentejo Litoral, linking the five council headquarters that makeup CIMAL to bathing areas”, explains the intermunicipal community.

The service will be provided “during the week and on weekends, several times a day, in order to provide an alternative to using cars”.

According to CIMAL, the road routes will connect the city of Alcácer do Sal and Comporta beach, between the town of Grândola and the beaches of Carvalhal, Pego and Melides and between the city of Santiago do Cacém and Lagoa de Santo Andre.

Connections are also planned between the city of Sines and the beaches of São Torpes and Porto Covo and from the town of Odemira to the beaches of Zambujeira do Mar, Almograve and Vila Nova de Milfontes.

The project, according to CIMAL, aims to “facilitate access to the beaches to the population and visitors free of charge, making the use of public transport economically advantageous, to the detriment of individual transport”.

“The decrease in car traffic and the inevitable constraints near bathing areas, as well as the reduction in pollution caused by private vehicles are other advantages of the new seasonal transport network”, reads the note.

According to the intermunicipal community, the connections include stops at various locations until they reach their destination.

“The link between Odemira and Zambujeira do Mar stops at São Teotónio, just as the link between Alcácer do Sal and Comporta beach stops at Bairro da Quintinha, Montevil, Carrasqueira, Possanco and Aldeia from Comporta”, they exemplify.

In the municipality of Grândola, the bus that will connect the beaches of Carvalhal and Pego “picks up or leaves passengers in Carvalhal, just as the line to Lagoa de Melides stops in the village of Melides”.

“The connection between Santiago do Cacém and Lagoa de Santo André stops in Vila Nova de Santo André”, they add.

CIMAL foresees, during the two months, more than 4,000 connections, which will total more than 45 thousand kilometres covered by buses in this territory.