Sociedade de Transportes Coletivos do Porto carried 73.2 million passengers in 2023

The Sociedade de Transportes Coletivos do Porto (STCP) carried 73.2 million passengers in 2023, up 7.5% from 2022, the municipality’s president said.

“The figures show that in 2023 compared to 2022 we had a 7.5% increase in passengers, but in 2019 we still have 96.3% of passengers,” Rui Moreira said at the Porto municipal meeting. which on Monday evening The only topic of discussion was mobility in the city.

A local government source told Lusa that STCP’s reporting for last year had not yet been completed, but preliminary data indicated 73.2 million passengers carried.

In response to criticism from the HDZ regarding the “stagnation of activity” of the operator in terms of vehicles, lines, stops and passengers, Rui Moreira said that the number of passengers carried has not yet reached the values ​​of 2019, before the covid-19 pandemic, because demand is in the center the city decreased due to the work of the metro.

“We have a problem because there is a decline in this part of the center,” he said, saying that he believes that once the work on the metro to Porto is completed, “STCP will return to its previous levels.”

The mayor of Porto also said that compensation for public service obligations (OSP) amounted to 16 million euros and that last year the operator had a positive net result of “5.28 million euros.”

“We manage to keep STCP afloat, despite the restrictions,” he emphasized. On this occasion, MP Susana Constante Pereira from BE also defended the need for “better quality of public transport service provision” and the extension of free transport to all young people under the age of 25, as well as those over 25 years of age. 65 years old, people with limited mobility, people in situations of unemployment and transport workers.

In response, the mayor of Porto said that with the entry into force at the beginning of the year of intermodal passes for students under 23, the municipality will no longer have to spend around three million euros on travel for under 23s. -18 will pass and will use this money to “create new demand.”

“We will provide credit for 22 trips per year to every person who has a Porto card. Whether on STCP or on the metro,” the mayor said.

Rui Moreira also added that the Táxi Saúde+65 program carried 26 thousand passengers in 2023, 11 thousand more than in the previous year, and that the “transport on demand” hypothesis is being studied in areas where there are no transport options.

This new service will be provided by taxis at designated stops and then “merged with metro stations and STCP stops,” he explained.

The session also overwhelmingly approved PSD’s recommendation to ensure that during the STCP network review there is “effective coordination between the high-capacity network and the metro network.”

“The introduction of a more improved bus network with lower capacity and higher frequency, where possible on dedicated lanes, aims to expand the capillarity of the transport offer, ensuring speed and reliability for users,” defended the Social Democrats.