Transportes Metropolitanos de Barcelona (TMB) wants to contribute to reducing the use of private vehicles in Barcelona and will work to reduce and ensure that 65% of the city's displacements are made by public transport by 2025. The transformation will promote more sustainable mobility and reduce CO2 emissions.
This is the objective of the new strategic plan presented by the public transport management company of the Barcelona metropolitan area with a horizon of 2025, which should translate into 2.3 million daily passengers on weekdays between the metro and bus networks, a figure that will represent 10% more than in 2019, when the maximum number of public transport passengers was reached.
The president of TMB, Rosa Alarcón, emphasizes that the plan goes beyond the city of Barcelona and has assured that collaboration between metropolitan city councils will be essential to achieve the set goals, promoting and participating in integrated transport solutions with other sustainable mobility services.
Alarcón has confirmed TMB's intention to become a global mobility company with the incorporation of bicycles, cars or scooters and become "an international benchmark" in mobility from a public service vocation.
The plan, which will opt for resources from the European Next Generation EU funds, includes improvements in the metro network, with the incorporation of 96 new trains to expand the network, launch the central section of line 9, two new stations in Badalona (L1), two in Esplugues (L3) and three in Barcelona (L4), and continue with the transformation of stations so that 100% are accessible by 2024.
508 clean energy buses (233 electric and 46 hydrogen) will be incorporated into the bus network. A hydrogen station open to public use will also be launched and a depot for 550 vehicles will be built in the Zona Franca. In addition, commercial speed will be increased by 10% on the main lines and axes.
A pilot project for a last-mile bus with an autonomous vehicle in the Zona Franca industrial park is also contemplated, and an on-demand bus service is planned for 20 proximity lines that will serve 50 neighborhoods.
The strategy for improving the metro and bus network involves increasing the offer, making it more accessible, and incorporating new services.In parallel, the company will launch other services such as shared bicycles and vehicles, with a clear commitment to sustainability that will be completed with the reduction of 17,000 tons of CO2 in 2025"TMB must be a sustainable, decarbonized, accessible, equitable company that covers mobility needs," said the president of TMB, who also recalled that the company "generates 27,877 direct and indirect jobs."
Alarcón specified that metropolitan bicycle services are in the bidding process. The so-called metropolitan bicing will have more than 2,000 bicycles and could be ready by September 2022. As for electric motorcycle and scooter sharing, and carsharing, the president of TMB said that it is a "very collateral issue to the strategic plan" and that work must be done on its definitive regulation.
Regarding citizen service, TMB has pending the implementation of T-Mobilitat, which will focus on improving payment with the most current systems and optimizing information channels. In this regard, Alarcón insisted that TMB is "absolutely committed to making it a reality," but no date has been set for its implementation, as this decision corresponds to the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM).
In the technological field, TMB's new plan will also entail a modernization and digitalization of metro and bus networks and services, improving video surveillance, security, customer information systems, and digital maintenance, among other issues.
The development of TMB's new strategic plan is endorsed by the entity's Advisory Council, a consultative body established last May with the aim of fostering permanent dialogue with stakeholders to contribute to improving the company's management.