EMT and Valencia Marathon join forces to boost mobility on the race day with free journeys
The Trinidad Alfonso EDP Valencia Marathon, organized by SD Correcaminos and the Valencia City Government, has signed an agreement with EMT València (the local transport company) in order to promote the use of public transport among citizens and runners on the 20th of November. The details of this agreement have been announced in front of the City Hall by Elena Tejedor, director of the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation; Giuseppe Grezzi, the Councillor for Sustainable Mobility of the Valencia City Council; and Josep Enric García, manager of EMT.
Around 29,000 people will come to city for the Trinidad Alfonso EDP Valencia Marathon and the parallel 10K. That is why the organization and the city need to find ways of working together so as to facilitate access to the event area, in particular at the start time. Therefore, EMT will offer a special high-frequency bus service in lines 35, 95 and 99 from 5:30 to 7:30. These are the main lines that link the City of Arts and Sciences with the rest of the city and they will take al runners to the start area. ‘There will be nine more buses in those lines and there will be a special service in the rest of the lines too. It has been very easy to work with the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation and the Valencia City Council’, said Josep Enric García.
EMT is aware of the need to keep the city connected on that day and of minimizing the impact that such a big event might have in the city. That is why they will promote the use of public transport by offering a free bus service for all citizens, runners and companions on Sunday the 20th of November until 16:00. This way, there will be fewer private vehicles in such a massive event as the Trinidad Alfonso EDP Valencia Marathon with thousands of runners travelling to the race area. ‘We have been working very hard on the implementation of an information service and also an special service to coordinate the traffic lights, which would facilitate an effective response in the event of an emergency’, said Giuseppe Grezzi.
Volunteers will travel for free over the three days of the event
Volunteers will be the main beneficiaries of the agreement since they will be provided with an EMT bus pass to travel around the city for free on the 18th, 19th and 20th of November. This initiative will make it easier for volunteers to travel from the City of Arts and Sciences, which is the neuralgic centre of the race, to the rest of the areas where the marathon and the parallel 10K take place. Volunteers work really hard so that the big sports event of Valencia is a success and they do not expect anything in return.This year there will be 1,300 of them. ‘We are very glad to launch this initiative since we owed it to the volunteers. In fact, it’s the least we could do for them’, said Elena Tejedor.
The Marathon support vehicle will be an EMT bus
One of the buses from the EMT fleet will be the support vehicle of the race. This initiative by the EMT shows even more its firm commitment to the Trinidad Alfonso EDP Valencia Marathon. The support vehicle will pick up those runners who lag behind and decide not to finish the race. The bus will be part of the operational services and it will go until the finish area behind the last runner who competes.
Information in the runner’s fair
EMT will have an information point in ExpoDeporte Valencia, the runner’s fair that will take place on the 18th and 19th of November, so that this campaign is a success. Both runners and citizens will receive information about the bus special services in the runner’s fair and they may also address their queries to the EMT Customer Support Line (963158515) or the Runner Support Line of Valencia City of Running (963940200).
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