• The proportion of passes continued to increase, accounting for 80% of the integrated tickets in 2023 and 60% of the total number of tickets in the system. The T-usual was the one most often used (37%).

• Validations with T-mobilitat, which accounted for approximately 65% of the total of integrated passes, recorded over 305 million journeys in 2023.

Barcelona, 25 January 2024.- The Autoritat del Transport Metropolità closed 2023 with recorded demand for public transport in the Barcelona area totalling close to 1,087 million journeys, which represents 17% more than last year and a new high, exceeding the figure of 1,057 million journeys in 2019. During the year, around 158 million more journeys than in 2022 were recorded, with nearly 30 million more than in the pre-pandemic situation of 2019, representing 3% higher demand than in the last pre-Covid year.

The demand increased in 2023 and the upward trend continued until December, with the third quarter gaining the most passengers in comparison with 2019.
 

Among the rail operators, the Metro was in the lead in terms of demand recovery compared to 2019 and ended 2023 only 6.8% points below the pre-pandemic figures, followed by the tram (+4%). Rodalies de Catalunya (Renfe) also recovered its travel data for 2019 (+0.63%) and FGC almost matched the data recorded in the last year before Covid.

As for bus travel, the recovery of the intercity bus (+9.28%) stood out, followed by the urban bus (+3.99%) and the metropolitan bus (+2.74). As for the TMB bus, the number of passengers increased by 16% compared to 2022, although it still stood 3.9 points higher than in the last pre-pandemic year.

*DGTM: Direcció General de Transports i Mobilitat

The use of passes grew and the T-usual became the most popular kind of ticket

With regard to the use of travel tickets, 80% of journeys with integrated tickets in 2023 were made with passes (recurring use of public transport: T-usual, T-jove, T-16 and passes for single-parent and large families), amounting to a 15.4% increase compared to 2021.

The T-usual pass thus positioned itself as the most popular transport ticket in the entire network of the integrated fare system (37% of the total).
 

As for integrated tickets, the T-casual, the main multi-trip ticket, continues its decline; in 2019 it accounted for 53.5% of all integrated tickets (the one most used by far), but it has fallen to second place, accounting for 17%, well below the figure for the T-usual, which is now the one most used, with a proportion totalling over 50% of the integrated ATM tickets of Barcelona

2023 was characterised by the maintenance of the rates for 2022, the special discounts applied starting in September 2022 (a 50% discount on the T-usual and T-jove in all their versions) and the expansion of the T-jove up to the age of 30, as well as the unification of the price for six zones and that of one.

The graph below shows, year on year, the accumulated demand for the public transport system, expressed in millions of journeys. Thus, during 2023, a sustained recovery is observed throughout the year.
 

T-mobilitat, with penetration totalling 65%, recorded more than 305 million journeys in 2023

In 2023, T-mobilitat recorded more than 305 million validations with integrated passes, accounting for 37% of the annual total. As of now, these validations already amount to 2 million per day, which means that the penetration level of the contactless and rechargeable validation system has already reached around 65%.

At present, practically the entire range of integrated passes of the Barcelona ATM can be used with the new contactless system. All that remains is the integration of the T-usual for the unemployed, the T-verda and the T-dia, which will do so in the coming months.
 

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