The Advisory Board of Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) is finalising the latest version of the operator’s new Strategic Plan, which is expected to be approved shortly by the Board of Directors.

The plan, which looks ahead to 2025, expects 65% of Barcelona’s journeys to be made by public transport, as opposed to private motorised vehicles.

One of the plan’s objectives is to reach 2.3 million journeys per weekday on TMB’s bus and metro networks. This figure represents an increase of 10% over the figures for 2019, when a record number of passengers on public transport was reached.

TMB’s Strategic Plan, which will be branded TMB2025, is the result of work carried out over the last few months, with contributions from several areas of participation, including the Board of Directors, metropolitan mayors, administrations linked to transport, the Advisory Board, Metro and Bus Works Councils, and TMB technical and management teams.

At the same time, the models of various mobility-leading cities in Europe were analysed.

New mobility services and greater sustainability

The operator is working to launch new services such as bicycles and shared vehicles in line with its commitment to sustainability and its call to public service.

Similarly, its goal is to lower CO2 emissions by 17,000 tonnes by 2025, with a 6% reduction in energy consumption by the metro, through the use of technologies that enable the recovery of the energy generated by the trains themselves. In addition, one of the projects calls for the use of electrical energy from the metro network to power the buses, thus achieving cost savings.

The plan also anticipates an improvement in the efficiency of the bus network, achieving a 10% increase in the commercial speed on the main lines and axes, which serve 85% of bus users. For this reason, improvements – e.g. traffic light priority, new bus lanes and better bus routes – are to be made.

The company will add 508 clean energy buses to its fleet, of which 233 will be electric and 46 will be hydrogen-powered.

TMB’s commitment to greener public transport also involves the promotion and launch of a hydrogen plant open to public use and the construction of a green garage in Zona Franca for 550 vehicles, digitalising management and operations, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies.

A pilot project is also planned for a last-mile, self-driving bus in the Zona Franca industrial estate, and an on-demand bus service is planned for 20 local bus lines serving 50 neighbourhoods.

These improvements to the networks are expected to arrive by the 100th anniversary of both, the bus network in 2022 and the metro network in 2024.

Network accessibility

The plan is to continue with the transformation of metro stations, so that 100% of them will be accessible by 2024.

With regard to the metro, some of the most important actions are: the opening of the central section of line L9, the addition of 96 new trains for network extensions, two new stations in Badalona (L1), two in Esplugues de Llobregat (L3) and three in Barcelona (L4).

Technology at the service of citizens

Under the new Strategic Plan, TMB envisages more personalised mobility thanks to the full roll-out of the T-mobilitat system, which will use the latest technology to improve payment and optimise information channels.

In terms of technology, TMB’s new plan will also involve modernising and digitising the metro and bus networks and services, improving video surveillance, security, customer information systems and digital maintenance, among others.

More information.