Metro and bus register a record number of users in 2023 with 643 million validations

Although it may now sound too distant, the pandemic hit many sectors, including public transport, seen as a focus of contagion despite the many measures taken to avoid it, from increasing the supply of convoys and incorporating filters to renew the air to establishing the mandatory use of masks. A distrust that has been difficult to overcome but has gradually been left behind, recovering along the way many who switched to private vehicles with COVID. In this way, 2023 has become a record year for validations on Barcelona's metro and bus, with more than 643 million registered journeys, the highest figure in the history of Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB).

The bus and metro network has grown this year by 18% compared to 2022, but, above all, it has left behind the figures of 2019, with an increase of 3%, until now the year with the highest number of validations. If four years ago, the record in Barcelona's public transport was supported by a record year in the tourism sector, with the arrival of 12 million visitors, this 2023 is explained by a combination of factors. Tourist activity in the city has strongly recovered, but, especially, more users have taken the metro and bus due to discounts on ticket prices, 50% in the case of tickets for recurrent users, approved to mitigate the rampant inflation of recent years. This year, the discounts will be maintained.

With historically very battered revenues, even more so since the pandemic, public transport now faces the challenge of retaining the new users it has gained, while offering a good service with a more utilized infrastructure, with the central sections of some lines already at their limit during peak hours. "A greater number of validations also requires an even more effective service and that is why more investments must be allocated by all administrations," said TMB president, Laia Bonet.

Record year also for the metro

In the case of the metro network, 2023 was a record year with more than 440 million validations, 6.8% more compared to 2019, when 412 million trips were made. In addition, the month with the highest number of validations in TMB's history was recorded, with almost 41 million in October, as well as the day, with 1.65 million on October 31. While the metro has turned the page on the pandemic, the bus is doing so more slowly. The bus network closed with more than 203 million validations last year, very close to the 2019 figures, when there were 211 million, but still below.

The tram also registered a record 2023, with 30.9 million trips, 4% more than in 2019, when there were 29.7 million. The Trambaix has surpassed pre-pandemic records, with 21.8 million validations in 2023 compared to 20.2 million in 2019, while the Trambesòs has not yet achieved it but is very close to doing so, with 9.1 million trips in 2023 compared to 9.5 million in 2019.