• The proportion of season tickets increases: 64.6% of journeys with integrated travel tickets in 2022 were made with season tickets

Barcelona, 3 February 2023.- The Autoritat del Transport Metropolità closes the year 2022 with recorded demand for public transport in the Barcelona area of close to 924 million journeys, which amounts to 28% more than last year. In this last year, public transport already reached 87% of demand compared to 2019. This year, despite adding 203.2 million journeys more than in 2021, we are still below the record 1,056.6 million trips recorded in 2019, which is 12.6% lower demand compared to figures before the COVID pandemic.

Demand grew during 2022 and, except for the usual drop in the months of July and August, the upward trend continued until December. In this regard, it can be noted that in the first quarter the demand for integrated travel passes was 17% lower than in 2019, in the second quarter it was 11% lower and in the third quarter, 7% lower.

Among the rail operators, the Metro is in the lead in terms of demand recovery compared to 2019 and ended 2022 only -9.79% points below the pre-pandemic figures, followed by the tram (-10.28%), the FGC (Government of Catalonia Railways) (- 13.21%) and Catalonia Suburban Rail (Renfe) -15.82%). As for bus travel, the recovery of the intercity bus (-3.8%) stands out, followed by the metropolitan bus (-12.26%), urban buses (-13.57%) and the TMB bus (-17.93%) .

Increased use of season tickets

2022 saw a freeze in travel prices, together with the special discount applied from September in accordance with Royal Decree Law 11/2022, of 25 June, on measures for the economic and social crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and which provided for the application of a 30% price reduction to urban and intercity transport for season tickets and multi-trip tickets.

As a result, the public administration agencies that are members of the ATM consortium (Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council and the AMB) decided to implement the measure and complement with another 20% the reduction in the price of the most recurring integrated travel passes: monthly season tickets ( T-usual) and quarterly tickets for young people under the age of 25 (T-jove), as well as their versions for single-parent and large families, and the travel pass for the unemployed. Regarding the travel pass for less frequent users (the T-casual) the complementary discount was not applied and there was a 30% price reduction.

As a result of this pricing policy, and with regard to the use of travel tickets, 64.6% of journeys with integrated tickets in 2022 were made with passes (recurring use of public transport: T-usual, T-jove, T-16 and passes for single-parent and large families), which amounts to a 5% increase compared to 2021.

In terms of validations, the T-casual, the main integrated multi-trip ticket, continues its decline and was 50.5% less than in 2019, overtaken by passes such as the T-usual which is positioned as the main travel pass of the system (269,096,840 validations, 29% of the total). It should be remembered that in 2019, the ATM decided to make a clear commitment to season tickets to the detriment of multi-trip tickets, as they represent greater loyalty to the use of public transport as a regular means of travel.

The graph below shows, year on year, the accumulated demand for the public transport system, expressed in millions of journeys. Thus, during 2022, a sustained recovery is observed throughout the year.
 

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