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Bragança

Bragança Residents Will Ride Every Bus in the Municipality Free From 1 December, Including 12 Village Routes Run by Private Operators

Bragança council extends free public transport to the 12 routes run by Rodonorte and Inter2000, serving 44 villages, from 1 December. Who qualifies, how to get the free resident card, and what changes.

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Bragança Residents Will Ride Every Bus in the Municipality Free From 1 December, Including 12 Village Routes Run by Private Operators
The countryside on the edge of Bragança (illustrative). Photo: Vitor Oliveira, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From 1 December, anyone in the municipality of Bragança who holds the council's resident card, the Cartão do Munícipe, will travel free on every public bus route in the municipality, whichever village they live in and whichever company runs the service. The Câmara Municipal de Bragança (Bragança City Council) approved the change on Friday, it said in a news release (in Portuguese).

Who was left out until now

Buses run by the council itself, the Serviço de Transportes Urbanos de Bragança (STUB, Bragança Urban Transport Service), have been free since the pandemic. But STUB only covers the city and some of the surrounding villages: 20 of the municipality's 39 parishes, according to the Lusa news agency, as carried by Observador (in Portuguese).

Twelve other routes are run under concession by two private operators, Rodonorte and Inter2000, and passengers on them still paid a fare. Those 12 routes serve 44 villages in 19 parishes. So a resident of a village on a STUB route travelled free, while a neighbour a few kilometres away on a Rodonorte or Inter2000 route bought a ticket.

"This made no sense," the mayor, Isabel Ferreira, told Lusa, calling it an injustice in access to a public service. The council expects the extension to cost about 45,000 euros a year, depending on how many people sign up.

How to travel free

  • Get the Cartão do Munícipe. It is free and can be requested online on the council's website (in Portuguese) or in person, by appointment, at the council's Balcão Único (one-stop counter).
  • Who qualifies. According to the council's card FAQ (PDF, in Portuguese), the card is for people whose tax address (domicílio fiscal) is in Bragança, and for students and workers who study or work and live in the municipality. Children can have one, with a parent's or guardian's details on the form.
  • Proof of address. A tax residence certificate from the Portal das Finanças, which is free and issued instantly, is one of the documents accepted. Do not attach a copy of your ID card to the online form; you only type in its number.
  • Validity. The card lasts five years. Tell the council if you move.
  • From 1 December, show the card when you board. The free travel applies to every urban and rural line in the municipality's public transport network.

The council says the measure is also meant to ease household costs for people who depend on the bus to reach health centres, shops and other essential services, many of them in villages far from the city.

Part of a wider trend

Bragança joins a growing list of Portuguese councils paying for free local transport. Porto's municipal assembly approved free public transport for its residents from January 2027, and parliament has extended free travel to war veterans nationwide. In Bragança, the state housing institute IHRU is also due to start building 40 affordable rental homes by the end of the year.

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