TOMA (Caldas da Rainha)

TOMA is the local bus service in Caldas da Rainha, a medium-sized city in western central Portugal. Toma means "take this" in Portuguese, commemorating everyman figure Zé Povinho, whose image appears on the buses. Service was inaugurated by the Câmara Municipal (municipal chamber, or city council) on 15 May 2007, the municipal holiday.

Contents

• Linha Azul Blue Line
• Linha Laranja Orange Line
• Linha Verde Green Line
• References

TOMA service consists of three routes: Linha Azul (Blue Line), Linha Laranja (Orange Line), and Linha Verde (Green Line). The Blue line uses two minibuses and runs between the western and eastern ends of town. The Orange and Green lines each operate using a single twenty-nine-seat minibus on loop routes.

The Orange and the Green lines were inaugurated on 15 May 2007, as part of the first phase of TOMA service. In May 2008, the municipality announced TOMA's third route, the Blue Line, which serves the northern areas of the city not included in the two first-phase routes. The new route operates using two buses, rather than the single bus used by each of the other two routes. Introduction of the new line was delayed, because the company that won the bid to operate the line decided not to undertake the project after all. The municipality inaugurated the new route on 19 September 2009, Public Transport Day.

TOMA service runs from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 8:00 a.m to 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays, with no service on Sundays. All routes operate at 30–35-minute intervals, except for Saturday service on the Blue Line, which runs hourly.

Since 16 August 2011, a trip on TOMA costs €1.10 without a pass and €0.55 with a pass, called TTT – Título de Transporte do TOMA. Passengers receive volume discounts for purchasing multiple trips simultaneously. They can also purchase passes for unlimited rides for given number of days. On January 9, 2008, the city council announced that persons in wheelchairs would ride free of charge.