Jolly Green giants, bone shakers or Gua Guas, whatever you want to call them, I’m a self confessed fan of the public bus service here in Tenerife. Last week I read that the comapny were tinkering with 8 routes from Saturday March 14, mainly cutting frequencies, but the big bombshell came on Saturday morning with reports that Titsa have clocked up 50 million euros of debt, 19 million of that in 2008.

I used the Aerobus last night, and after the early controversy and sky high price, it has now settled into a useful service, it was just 1.35 euros from Los Cristianos to the airport. The new timetable, now sees it run hourly rather than every 30 minutes, well that will please the taxi drivers. Among the other timetable changes is the addition of 2 new buses on the 472 Los Cristianos to Playa Paraiso and Callao Salvaje route, the other changes are more in the north around La Laguna.

Last year was the 30th birthday of Titsa, the Tenerife government owned bus service, the latest bombshell is bound to result in a cost cutting excercise and more route pruning, and maybe even cuts to the 1,600 work force. The company had definately been affected in the Santa Cruz region by the arrival of the tram, sleek, efficient and fast, it’s really packing them in. Titsa are also bracing themselves for the opening of the second Santa Cruz tram line from La Cuesta to Tincer, scheduled for May 30, the national holiday of the Canary Islands. So grab hold of your Bono cheap fair ticket, and hold on tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

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