Dear Editor,
We live in Olhão and made the decision not to own a car, to not only save the environment but to also be more physically active, and choose to use public transport instead.
Portugal has a wonderful public transport system and the new VAMUS service by EVA has made it even better.
My husband and I took the VAMUS bus from Olhão to the MAR shopping centre and back, and we are so impressed.
Previously we had to take the train to Faro and then wait for about 30 minutes for an EVA bus. The number of buses for the return journey were very few, so we often walked around MAR for hours waiting to come home. We then sometimes missed a connecting train in Faro because the bus had been delayed in traffic. This meant sitting in Faro train station for an hour or so until the next train back to Olhão. It made for an extremely long day.
It is now a simple 40-minute bus ride.
There are numerous improvements for the routes and availability of buses. The EVA website has a link to the VAMUS one, and it is a little difficult to navigate, but it is possible to determine a variety of routes and access a timetable. Pricing for the routes is more difficult online but, at ticket offices, staff have been great with that information.
As a matter of interest, it was €8.60 return per person Olhão to the MAR shopping centre.
We encourage everyone to use the service and make it sustainable.
Gillian and Paul Slade
