My new trip with FlixBus

In which I analyze the challenges I will face in my new company, I explain what FlixBus is and I give you a preview of the big problem with buses in Spain.

I am everywhere you are

I need you close to me

I am everywhere you are

I need your company

Eric Clapton

This week, I joined the mobility provider FlixBus as Head of Communication and Public Affairs for its Spanish subsidiary. Those of you who work in mobility are familiar with the company. It operates in 40 countries, with over 5,500 destinations, over 400,000 daily connections, over 5,000 employees, more than 500 partners, and 4,000 FlixBuses. They recently acquired the legendary Greyhound, and although they are not well known in Spain, they already have songs dedicated to them in Europe.

If the Spanish operation is still little known, it is because it only has permission from the government to carry out international trips and cannot operate intercity routes. It can go to Lisbon, but not Bilbao. This is mainly due to the fact that routes between different Autonomous Communities can only be operated within a concession model in which the State controls all the routes that are operated. And it is a completely broken model, in which Spaniards pay much more than almost all of Europe. According to data collected by the CNMC, fares/km in Spain are 12%, 17%, 23%, 23%, and 36% higher than fares in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, France, and Italy, respectively.

But the fares are also uncompetitive even when compared to trains. A quick example I calculated as I write these lines: if you want to travel from Madrid to Vigo on May 5th, an Alvia train takes you there for €35 in just over four hours. With the current concessionaire, the bus trip takes over 8 hours and costs over €60.

And prices matter. They matter a lot. It is important that they are low because buses are usually aimed at groups of workers, for whom fares are essential, or for students willing to arrive later if they can arrive cheaper.

eVACuate

The current system is based on 77 concessions (VAC), some of which date back to the Franco era and 60% of which have expired. By the end of the year, it will be 65%. Some say it is not a monopoly because there are concessions to private companies under free competition, but the inability of several governments to renew all these concessions has maintained a status quo in which a handful of companies, with Alsa at the forefront, have control of all intercity buses.

It is a model that does not allow for the free creation and exploitation of new lines that citizens demand and is based on preserving the acquired rights of those already operating, monopolized by companies under the umbrella of Confebús.

It is not that nothing is being done about it, either. I believe that the Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda is heading in the right direction with the launch of its New Concession Map, which reduces the number of concessions from 77 to 22, and I am convinced that this is the way to go if accompanied by other fundamental aspects:

●     Allow operators that perform international trips, such as FlixBus, to pick up and drop off passengers at intermediate stops, something known as cabotage, which improves occupancy levels and reduces emissions per passenger. And start doing it right now, with expired routes.

●     Allow frictionless creation of new liberalized routes in corridors that are currently not served by the concession system. Buses are key to a less radial Spain.

●     Although it would be best to end the concession model, at a minimum, the bidding process should be improved and the rampant judicialization that operators have used to extend their concessions should be avoided, which is a lucrative business they are not willing to give up. In some cases, these concessions have an average duration of 30 years, which is above the maximum legal duration of 10 years. Additionally, initial concessionaires have advantages over other bidders, such as better information on the profitability of routes and the terms of the bids. According to the CNMC, these circumstances "limit competition in the bidding process."

●     Create an independent regulator, such as the one proposed by the CNMC, capable of supervising the liberalization process and managing potential conflicts, such as access to bus stations or those arising between concession routes and liberalized market routes.

But to start with, we must accept once and for all that, although we may not be aware of it, our bus system is broken, and we do not have the options, frequencies, flexibility, and prices we deserve. In fact, we need to start doing something to fix it. The perpetuation of a literally outdated monopoly regime that enriches a few at the expense of keeping artificially high prices for workers and students cannot be the solution. Because maybe you do not take the bus often, but my mother-in-law or sister-in-law do.

A mission for all

It is not a public system but one operated by private companies, so left-wing parties should be fighting to find solutions that reduce the impact on citizens' wallets. Additionally, since the current model is highly inefficient, liberal parties should collaborate to find a better solution. The only ones who can fight to maintain the status quo are those who benefit from it.

And not even that. In the British market, already liberalized, Ignacio Garat, the CEO of National Express, the parent company of the Alsa group, acknowledged that competition has not been bad for them. "Competition is good for promoting and incentivizing the transfer from private cars to public transport, which is our business," he said at the presentation of their annual results. I doubt he will say the same thing in Spain right now, but he sure thinks it because it is obvious.

In short, I am going to work for a company you may not have heard of, with a difficult battle ahead, complex challenges, much to explain to the media, and, most importantly for me, a mission I believe. The railway must be the center of sustainable mobility, but the bus is a great companion. A collective transport capable of reducing emissions affordably, which can expand and reduce supply flexibly, and which is the most used by Spaniards in their trips of more than 50 kilometers. I believe in all means of transportation, but not everything can revolve around a gigantic fleet of 25 million private cars, 10 million of which do not have environmental labels, mostly diesel, and with an average age of 14 years. I wish I had more options to give up mine.

When I was little, I had a book that taught you the different means of transportation in English. In some order, it was something like 'Boats, Trains, Planes, and Buses.' In recent years, I have not stopped working for some of those modes of transportation, disseminating their modernization and the efforts being made to make them safer and more sustainable. Today, it's the buses' turn, and I'm ready to face the challenge.