Demand for urban public transport increased in 2023, with the number of passengers carried on Metropolitano de Lisboa, Metro do Porto and Trantejo/Soflusa increasing by 21% compared to 2022, the government reported this Friday.
A statement from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Control, which oversees urban transport, indicated that in 2023, the three urban public transport operators transported a total of 260.446 million people, an increase of 21% when taking into account that in 2022 214.630 million passengers used the services of the same operators.
According to government data, Metro do Porto transported 79.070 million passengers last year (65.185 million in 2022), Metropolitano de Lisboa 161.717 million (133.642 million in 2022) and Transtejo/Soflusa 19.659 million (15.803 million in 2022) ). .
For several months, March 2023 was the month in which the Lisbon Metropolitano was in greatest demand, with 15.194 million passengers using this mode of transport, followed by October, which registered 14.923 million passengers.
On the river service between Lisbon and Margem Sul, May and August were the months that recorded the highest demand for Transtejo/Soflusa services, with 1.771 and 1.734 million passengers respectively.
Regarding Metro do Porto, what stands out is the demand recorded in May and October, which exceeded seven million passengers, with 7.391 and 7.278 million respectively.
The Ministry of the Environment also compared data for 2023 with data for 2019, when the activities of companies were not yet affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, confirming that in Metro do Porto and Transtejo, passengers transported last year exceeded the demand recorded in 2019 – 11% and 2% respectively.
Despite the increase in passenger numbers, demand for the Lisbon metro is “still 7% lower than in 2019,” he adds.
According to the ministry, during 2023, due to network expansion works, the Metropolitano de Lisboa “implemented circulation restrictions that probably prevented a greater recovery in demand.”
During the four-year period 2019–2022, under the Program to Support the Reduction of Fare in Public Transport (PART), the Program to Support the Densification and Strengthening of the Supply of Public Transport (PROTransP) and additional allocations to maintain supply during the pandemic, the Ministry of the Environment and Change Control Climate Fund mobilized more than 905 million euros for public transport.
This year’s government budget calls for the creation of the Stimulus + TP program, which replaces PART and PROTransP, which will be financed by transferring a portion of carbon tax revenues amounting to €360 million, to which €50 million is added to support pass prices .
From January 1, free passes are available to young students under the age of 23, a measure included in the state budget.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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