August 4, 2023.- The measures adopted by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) to promote public transport have made it possible for 82% of trips of state competence to be made with free or discounted tickets or multi-travel titles.
According to the latest data obtained by the General Secretariat of Transport and Mobility, the implementation of this type of subscriptions or multi-travel certificates, a bet for the future for sustainable mobility and citizens’ savings, has successfully increased the demand for public transport, in addition to attracting users of the private vehicle, a transfer that contributes significantly to the reduction of the environmental impact that this traffic entails.
Thus, the state public transport services of the companies operating under these discounts (Neighbourhoods, Conventional Medium Distance and Avant, provided by Renfe, and state-owned buses) totaled 167.1 million trips in the last quarter of 2022. This reflects a strong increase in travel compared to 2021 and 2019, before the pandemic, especially in Conventional Media Distancia and Avant.
Likewise, trips in all public transport services by medium and long distance bus amounted to 70.5 million, according to data from the INE, which represented a 28.4% increase compared to 2021 and 4.3% compared to 2019. However, fuel consumption (gasoline plus diesel) remained slightly below 2019 levels. C
on 2021, the number of trips increased in Neighbourhoods by 30%; in Conventional Medium Distance, 89%; in Avant, 74%; and in state-owned buses with discounted services, 29%. If we compare it with 2019, before the pandemic, the increase is 50% in Conventional Medium Distance, and 19% in Avant. In the case of Neighbourhoods and state buses, it is still lower by 2% and 13%, respectively.
Services Medium Distance Conventional and AVANT of Renfe
Specifically, between September and December 2022, 11.95 million trips were recorded in Conventional Medium Distance services. Of these, 8.3 million were made with the free pass for recurring travelers, which represents 69.5% of the total. The average usage was 16.2 trips per pass. In the same period, there were 3.68 million trips on Avant services, 43.3% with a discounted subscription.
On the other hand, in the last four months of 2022, travel on Conventional Medium Distance rail services increased by 42.3% on working days and 56.2% on weekends compared to 2019. Between January and May of this year, the increases recorded with respect to 2019 have ranged between 31.1% and 55.5% depending on the month.
In Avant, in this same period, travel grew by 17.2% on working days and 23.6% on weekends compared to 2019. Between January and May 2023, increases between 29.2% and 41.4% were recorded each month compared to 2019.
The increase in the use of medium-distance rail transport (Avant, MD Conventional) since September 2022, added to the increase that is also observed in medium- and long-distance bus transport, contrasts with the decrease in mobility data of more than 50 km that have been obtained from the basic studies of the mobility study with bigdata technology developed by Mitma, which reflects a transfer from the private vehicle to public transport.
Hence, fuel consumption (gasoline plus diesel) between September and December 2022 is slightly below the same period of 2019, which shows the impact of the discounts on the increase in the use of public transport.
Railway vicinity
Between September and December 2022, 144.15 million trips were registered in the services of the Railway Vicinity. Of these, 87% were made using the discounted subscriptions of Renfe + Consorcios. Only with a free subscription from Renfe were 44%.
In Cerca, the records for 2019 were exceeded during weekends and public holidays (+0.7%), while the values for 2019 were not reached in working days (-8.8%). It is estimated that this different weekly pattern can be a reflection of the effect of teleworking in the reduction of daily forced mobility in large cities, among other causes.
Although Neighbourhoods does not recover 2019 values, there was a notable boost in travel in September 2022, decreasing the gap observed previously. This recovery was losing intensity until February 2023 and again an improvement is observed again from March 2023.
State Competition Buses
In the last quarter of 2022, there were 7.33 million trips on state-owned intercity bus services that offered discounts to recurring travelers.
In the intercity buses subject to the measure, 28.1% of the trips registered in the last quarter of 2022 were paid for with discounts of 50%. Between February and May, with the current free rate, the figure rises to 36.2% of registered trips.