Public transport users have the perception that they use 20% more time to get to Barcelona in rush hour compared to the experience they would have in a private vehicle. This translates into an average of ten more minutes. A difference they are willing to accept. This is one of the main conclusions drawn from a study presented yesterday by the RACC based on an analysis of different public transport. Other conclusions are that the main reason that makes people opt for the train or the bus, and not for the car, is the fear of congestion to enter the big city and that the trains coming from the Maresme and the Llobregat delta they are already at 90% of their capacity, which makes the experience of the journey unpleasant.
“Investing ten more minutes in the journey does not penalize users of public transport, but for those who do not use it it can mean a world”, pointed out the director of the RACC’s mobility area, Cristian Bardají. “What the user of private transport values ??is reliability”, added the president of the mobility club, Josep Mateu.
If this 20% extra time recorded from the front door to the workplace is not the main concern, what headaches do public transport customers have? According to the study, which interviewed 1,100 users between the Express bus, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FCG) and Rodalies, what they claim in 57% is more frequent passes, followed by having a more extensive network and more capillary (39%). That more trains pass assiduously is particularly important for Renfe users, as this request reaches 62%. The survey does not include this, but it must be remembered that the effects of the service that are lamented by the improvement works or by the assiduous thefts of copper are also a great public concern.
“The proximity of the stop or the station is a determining factor”, said Mateu. Only 13% of public transport users who travel in Barcelona live in housing estates. The rest live in urban centers and have easier access to public transport.
According to the report, in 2022, on a weekday, around 850,000 inbound trips will be made to Barcelona from the closest counties, such as Baix Llobregat, Vallès Occidental, Vallès Oriental and Maresme. 60% of users are between 21 and 40 years old and travel for compulsory mobility, that is, for studies or work.
The grade they give to public transport, which is an average of the responses collected in October last year, is 5.7. 27% suspend the service, 34% approve it, 32% give it a remarkable rating and only 7% give it an excellent rating.
FGC, with a 5.9, is the service with the highest rating. But the rest are not far away. The Express bus reaches a 5.8, and Rodalies, a 5.5. “The users of Rodalies do not value the service so badly. It’s the people who don’t use it who have a worse opinion of it,” reflected Bardají.
What drives them to use public transport and not their private vehicle every day? The work of the RACC explains that the main reason is to avoid the congestion that forms at the entrance to Barcelona during rush hour. This is the answer of 79% of respondents. At long distances, the second motivation is financial savings (31%), and the third, the difficulty of parking at the destination (26%). Other considerations, such as sustainability and lower risk of accidents, are still much more distant.
The work of the mobility club goes beyond the surveys that were carried out in October and also examines the use of trains and buses in rush hour, to the point of analyzing 42 of the 50 lines available in Rodalies, FGC and Bus Express .
The average occupancy of the Barcelona-bound train is 80% between 7.30 a.m. and 9.30 a.m., right at peak time for going to study or work. However, some lines are more saturated than others. The Llobregat and Maresme delta corridors are the most affected, with over 90% occupancy. A situation that worsens in the early hours, when the Llobregat delta corridor is 99% occupied, and the Maresme corridor, 95%. A need is X-rayed that is not new: more frequencies and more capacity are needed. “More than 90% occupancy in a transport makes the journey uncomfortable”, described the director of the RACC’s mobility area. “The situation has not improved, high employment has remained” in recent years, added Cristian Bardají.
From Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental, occupancy does not exceed 80%, and from the rest of Baix Llobregat, only from 7.30 a.m. to 8.30 a.m.
For its part, the Express node has an average occupancy of 77% and the peak is also between 7.30 am and 8.30 am, with 82%.
In this context, the RACC put forward some proposals to improve the situation. For example, old claims, such as “guarantee the frequency and capacity of Rodalies even with ongoing works, and communicate contingency plans to users”. They also consider it necessary to “reinforce the frequency of the Express bus”. In addition, the organization encourages “completing the tariff integration of the whole of Catalonia with T-Mobilitat with the recurring user bonus”.
On the other hand, the RACC also recommends “improving mobility from home to the station to reduce travel time” and expanding the parks
