Demand for urban public transport has increased in 2023, with a 21% rise in the number of passengers transported on Metropolitano de Lisboa, Metro do Porto and Transtejo/Soflusa compared to 2022, the government announced today.
In a statement, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action, which oversees urban transport, said that in 2023 a total of 260.446 million people would be transported by the three urban public transport operators, an increase of 21% compared to 214.630 million passengers in 2022.
According to the government, by means of transport, Metro do Porto carried 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).
By month, March 2023 was the month in which the Lisbon Metro had the highest demand, with 15.194 million passengers using this means of transport, followed by October, which saw 14.923 million passengers.
On the river connection between Lisbon and the South Bank, the months of May and August saw the highest demand on Transtejo/Soflusa, with 1.771 and 1.734 million passengers respectively.
With regard to Metro do Porto, the demand recorded in the months of May and October stands out, with more than seven million passengers, 7.391 million and 7.278 million respectively.
The Ministry of the Environment also compared the figures for 2023 with those for 2019, when the companies’ operations had not yet been affected by the covid-19 pandemic, noting that at Metro do Porto and Transtejo, passengers transported last year exceeded the demand recorded in 2019 by 11% and 2% respectively.
Despite an increase in the number of passengers, demand on the Lisbon Metro “is still 7% lower than in 2019”, he adds.
According to the Ministry, throughout 2023 and due to network expansion works, Metropolitano de Lisboa “presented restrictions on circulation that probably did not allow for a greater recovery in demand”.
In the 2019-2022 quadrennium, through the Public Transport Fare Reduction Support Programme (PART), the Public Transport Supply Densification and Reinforcement Support Programme (PROTransP) and extra appropriations to maintain supply during the pandemic period, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action mobilized more than 905 million euros for public transport.
This year’s State Budget includes the creation of the “Incentiva +TP” program, which replaces PART and PROTransP, and which will be financed by earmarking part of the revenue from carbon taxes, to the value of 360 million euros, plus 50 million euros to maintain the prices of passes.
Since January 1st, free passes have been available for young students up to the age of 23, a measure included in the State Budget.
