If you’ve spent some time in the Algarve and tried to take public transport, you’ve probably come across Algarvebus.info. This website, which started all the way back in 2006, has for a long time been the most comprehensive guide to local bus information on the Algarve. In fact, it’s sometimes the only online resource for bus timetables.
Given how useful it has been for people living and travelling to the Algarve, we wanted to speak to the main behind the site to discuss the inspiration for it and just how he manages to keep it so up-to-date all the time.
How long have you been living in the Algarve, and what brought you here?
I moved to the Algarve in June 2005 after accepting an offer of early retirement due to outsourcing and downsizing. I had been coming to the area on holiday for some years previously and had got to know the place and the people.
Which part of the Algarve have you chosen to settle in?
I have an apartment in Páteo, about 1km from the centre of Albufeira old town.
What are the pros and cons of living there?
Pros – the weather, mostly! No horrendous winter heating bills. Generally a lower cost of living. I am close enough to town to walk back and forth. Local corner shop 100 metres down the road, buses to larger supermarkets – I do not drive. No noisy nightclubs!
Cons – I miss my English beer which, since UK left the EU, is almost unobtainable. I would be also be watching cricket during the summer rather more regularly.
You live without a car? What advice would you give someone moving to the Algarve thinking about doing the same?
Check very carefully the availability of local transport. Since the ‘pandemic’ rural bus service has been drastically reduced in many areas with nothing at weekends in some. People I know who live miles out in the countryside are absolutely stranded if their car breaks down. Within the major towns, local bus service is usually pretty good and not expensive, although unlike in the UK and other countries there is no free travel for seniors. Taxis are cheap, but very busy in the summer holiday season. Online transport services Uber and Bolt are also available, but not everywhere.
What inspired you to create algarvebus.info?
Not long after I first moved here, people coming into a bar I used were often asking ‘how do I get to…” and in 2005 / 6 there was nothing available online. I and a couple of others set out on a mission to gather the information and create a simple website to which we could point people. It grew and grew with our increasing knowledge.
The other originals are no longer with us or have moved away, so now it’s my task, aided and abetted by a couple of useful contacts and occasional comments and feedback from website visitors.
How do you collect all of the information you need for the site?
Nowadays it’s much easier than it was at first! I search official transport websites for updates and information. Unfortunately that is often not easy. For example the local regional bus company, VAMUS, sometimes does not publish a warning of a timetable change until 24 hours before it is due to come into effect. The actual nature of the changes is never highlighted, which means reading everything in fine detail trying to spot the difference!
How those who use the buses react when they discover their bus will be at a different time tomorrow I can only guess! Other websites are better, one or two are even worse, with no maps and no list of timetables.
I do a ‘sweep’ of the non-Algarve pages on the site about once a month.
What areas of the Algarve do you think are best and worst for public transport?
Since the reductions in service in 2021, even once busy and popular coastal routes such as Albufeira – Vilamoura – Quarteira and Faro – Tavira have one bus an hour at best on weekdays. At weekends there are gaps of three or even four hours between buses. Hardly the way to attract customers.
In the bigger towns, such as Albufeira, Lagos, Faro and Portimão, local bus service is in general pretty good, with regular buses seven days a week on most routes. In rural areas, particularly north of the A22 road, bus service is extremely limited, with four buses on a weekday being extravagant. Very few buses run at weekends across large swathes of the countryside.
Where do you think the Algarve could improve on public transport?
One improvement is already on the way – the electrification of the Algarve railway. That will bring faster and it is to be hoped, more frequent and regular local trains. Gaps of three to four hours between trains also do not encourage people to use them. Also we will be able to travel on fairly modern electric trains, good for the environment.
The regional bus routes would be of far more use to the millions of visitors (and residents) if the buses were more frequent, especially at weekends, and operated at regular intervals rather than the seemingly random times they do at present.
Acceptance of contactless payments on board, which is now the norm in much of Europe, would be a major improvement. A specific example which annoys me is that, here in Albufeira, the only place one can purchase or recharge a GIRO bus pass (GIRO is the town’s urban network) is at the main out of town bus station. That requires a special journey. At least VAMUS offer online recharge of passes for their buses and an app if you can get it to work.
Do you think things have improved since you started the site?
In some respects yes, such as the expansion of the Albufeira GIRO network and the much easier access to information across the board. Vilamoura, Quarteira and Loulé now enjoy free local bus travel. Tickets for regional trains can now be purchased via website or app, a fairly recent innovation.
How has the introduction of Vamus.pt changed your site?
The information about regional and some urban services is much easier to find than it was previously, but as I said they could be better when it comes to notifying changes. Their bus tracker feature is often very useful, to see how far away the bus is, but it doesn’t work all the time.
What changes do you see coming to the Algarve’s public transport in the next few years?
The electrification of the railway will be a big step forward, although there is no timescale I know of for its completion. Could be another two years in the making.
I fear though unless steps are taken to make buses easier to use e.g. contactless cards accepted and more frequent service on the busy routes there could be a decline.
Fares need to be made more attractive to visitors. Albufeira abolished the 1 hour free transfer between GIRO buses and also the 1 day visitor’s pass. The local buses around Albufeira have been running almost empty all summer despite the town being packed with visitors. One reason – if you are not careful it can cost two people €7,60 for a simple trip from one side of Albufeira to the other. Two friends of mine did the same trip in Uber for €3,50 last week and in half the time.
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