We all who live in a big city know how uncomfortable it is to have to share it with millions of tourists who are only here for a weekend and if I’ve seen you, I don’t remember you.
In Barcelona, one of the most touristy cities in the world, they have come up with a brilliant way to eliminate the saturation of public transportation (intended for the mobility of citizens) by tourists.
The city council of the condal city has asked Google to remove one of its most popular bus routes from searches, the 116, which connects the surroundings of Park Güell with the city center. This service worked very well, until the tourists arrived, who colonized Gaudí’s park and the buses.
For those who don’t know, the 116 is an urban line equipped with vehicles called minibuses, which are slightly larger than a delivery van and can transport about 20 passengers.
Request from the neighbors, execution by the City Council and Google Maps
After the reports from the neighborhood associations, the Councilor for Security and Coexistence, Albert Batlle, proposed the possibility of removing the bus route from Google Maps. After a couple of months of work, the proposal has been implemented.
Google Maps, the biggest source of knowledge for tourists to get around when sightseeing, has managed to make tourists stop using it as a means of transportation.
And it has gone from being extremely crowded to having several empty seats per trip. The question is: will more cities copy this clever technique? We will see if more municipalities take Barcelona’s idea to free public transportation from uncomfortable tourism.
