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arcelona will be the world capital of public transport in 2023. The bid presented by the city and promoted by the public companies Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) and Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) has prevailed over other major international capitals to organize in 2023 the Global Public Transport Summit, a congress organized by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) which is held every two years.
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The last edition took place in Stockholm (Sweden) in 2019, with the participation of 81 countries, 2,718 congress attendees, 474 exhibiting companies and 15,000 visitors in the exhibition area. The 2021 edition will take place in Melbourne (Australia) and Barcelona will be the host two years later after having beaten the proposals presented by Dubai and Brussels, the city that hosts the UITP headquarters.
In addition to FGC and TMB, Renfe will also be involved in the organization of the event, as well as Fira de Barcelona and the Barcelona Convention Bureau, which will contribute their experience in managing large events.
According to the UITP, to choose the Catalan capital, "its competitiveness as a city, its extensive experience in organizing large congresses and the fact of having a public transport system and urban development policies that are world references" have been taken into account.
According to the presidents of FGC and TMB, Ricard Font and Rosa Alarcón, respectively, "the Global Public Transport Summit in Barcelona will be an excellent opportunity for both the city and Catalonia as a whole to show the world their experience and competitiveness in the field of public transport and the development of an inclusive and sustainable mobility system".
The UITP brings together 1,600 companies and associations linked to public transport worldwide. The links between this entity and Catalonia date back many years, as Barcelona was responsible for organizing the congress in 1926 and also in 1967. In addition, the current president of the UITP is the general director of FGC, Pere Calvet. For his part, Gerardo Lertxundi, CEO of TMB, is the association's representative in Spain.