• All modes of transport combined recover 152 million validations, but still remain at 68 % of the demand when compared with 2019
   
• All modes of transport combined recover 152 million validations, but still remain at 68 % of the demand when compared with 2019
  
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Barcelona, 21 January 2022.- In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic that was declared in March 2020, the Metropolitan Transport Authority (Autoritat del Transport Metropolità – ATM) ended 2021 with a recorded demand for public transport in the Barcelona area of almost 718 million journeys, 27 % higher than in 2020. In 2020, there was a homogenous fall in demand of around 45 % compared with 2019, whilst last year demand for public transport already reached 68 % of the figure recorded the year before the pandemic.

In 2021, despite recording 152.2 million more journeys than in 2020, we were still far from the record of 1,056.6 million journeys recorded in 2019, which represents a 32.1 % drop in demand compared with the pre-pandemic situation.

With regard to the use of transport tickets, the tariff policy of maintaining the fares in 2021 meant that the ticket use structure remained the same as in 2020, with over 55 % of validations being with travel cards (frequent use of public transport). The percentage of discounted fares (T-16, T-jove, transport tickets for single-parent families and large families and for the unemployed) continued to rise slightly compared with other tickets, representing 19.14 % in 2021, whilst it was 16.75 % in 2020 and 14.53 % in 2019.

The drop in the number of journeys continues to result in a reduction in revenue throughout the entire integrated tariff system. As far as integrated tickets are concerned, the revenue collected in 2021 was 353 million euros, which, despite being 20 % more than in 2020, still represents nearly 35 % less than in 2019, before the pandemic.

It can be seen that in 2021 there was a steady recovery up to December, coinciding with the arrival of the sixth wave of the pandemic.

The comparative evolution in demand over the last three years is also shown, highlighting the drop in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. From April 2020, a steady recovery can be observed, only interrupted in the month of August of both years and by the successive waves of infection, including the sixth, with a marked decline in December 2021.

2021 ended with the expectation of a gradual recovery in demand for public transport in 2022, with the hope that it will reach pre-pandemic levels by 2023.

At all times, the administrations and all transport operators will continue to comply strictly with the regulations determined by the health authorities and with the reinforcement of safety and hygiene protocols to help fight the epidemic outbreak, providing constant ventilation systems, the installation of partitions in buses, and communicating obligations and regulations to ensure user safety. Thus, at the moment, it is still obligatory to wear a well-fitted mask and people are advised to make their journeys in silence, not to eat or drink, to apply hand sanitiser gel, and to avoid crowds.

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