The Metrobus project (also called BRT, Bus Rapid Transit) comes from the perspective of improving the quality of life and social cohesion and increasing the supply of public transport in the western part of the city of Porto. A project that also has an environmental motivation and which presents a mobility solution that guarantees frequencies and capacity without presenting visual impacts (there are no rails, posts, or suspended catenary) and which maintains the original design of the Boavista avenue area.
This new mode of transport combines the efficiency, punctuality and reliability of the Metro (Metrobus stops will have validators and passengers will enter and exit simultaneously through all doors), with the flexibility and comfort of the latest generation of ecological buses, powered by hydrogen. With priority over all other modes of transport (through an intelligent traffic light system), a dedicated channel and integrated into the Andante ticketing system, Metrobus presents its great competitive advantage on the speed and reliability in meeting timetables. The Boavista – Império connection (with seven new surface stops: Casa da Música, Guerra Junqueiro, Bessa, Pinheiro Manso, Serralves, João de Barros and Império) will take just 12 minutes (one vehicle every 10 minutes) and the journey between Boavista – Anémona (which includes the stations of Antunes Guimarães, Garcia de Orta, Nevogilde, Castelo do Queijo/Praça de Gonçalves Zarco and Anémona/Praça Cidade do Salvador) will last 17 minutes (one vehicle every eight minutes). The service will operate every day from 6 am until 1 am.
Casa da Música will be the main point of the Metrobus, where a micro-roundabout will be built so that the bus can change direction in 30 seconds. A passenger leaving the metro and wishing to catch the bus will have to walk a distance of 200 meters, between the underground station exit next to Rotunda da Boavista and the BRT starting point, in front of Café da Música.
Metrobus adds quality, speed and flexibility to the transport network, and the first line, Boavista – Império begins operations this summer. The Boavista – Anémona connection, in Matosinhos, is scheduled for the end of 2024.
