The presence of cars and motorbikes on the streets of Barcelona, ??which became hegemonic and unquestionable, is getting smaller and smaller. For the first time in the historical series of the Barcelona City Council, the number of journeys made in the so-called private vehicle has fallen by 20% of the total (a reference that calls for a rethink, since bikes and scooters they are too).
The figure has fallen in five years from 21.4% to 19.9%, an evolution in line with what the municipal government was looking for, but which is far from the goal of 14.9% for 2024, according to what is marked by the Urban Mobility Plan (PMU) drawn up by those responsible for Mobility from the previous mandate, when the portfolio was already in socialist hands.
In the conception of this plan, directed by the then councilor Rosa Alarcón, the pedestrian was targeted as the main protagonist of urban mobility and this aspect has indeed been achieved. 42% of trips within the Catalan capital are made on foot, which is the most common mode of transport.
Public transport, on the other hand, has reduced the burden on mobility as a whole, despite record figures for Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB). This is explained by the fact that, despite its growth in absolute numbers, the increase in journeys on foot and by bike or personal mobility vehicle means that the modal share has been reduced. In fact, a similar thing happens with the car and motorcycle: the absolute numbers are similar to 2019, although it was above 21% then and now it is 19.9%.
This percentage only refers to internal movements within the Catalan capital, it does not include movements in relation to other municipalities. Even so, this percentage is what Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet repaired the most yesterday during the first meeting of the Collboni government’s Pact for Mobility. “80.1% of journeys are already carried out in sustainable means of transport”, celebrated Bonet at the forum that has regularly brought together for 25 years all the agents of civil society involved in urban mobility, an area that was very sectorial and technical a few years ago (when the car was king) and which has become a favorite topic of conversation for the in-laws at Christmas dinners for some time now.
In front of this audience, the officials of the City Council announced that work will begin to draw up the new Urban Mobility Plan, whose time horizon goes from 2025 to 2030 and that it is expected to be approved by the end of this same year The main strategic lines will be to continue “reducing dependence on the car or motorbike and mitigating its negative externalities”, in Bonet’s words. In turn, we will want to continue to increase the number of travelers on public transport (which will require investments in the reinforcement of services that are already at their limit during rush hour) and to bring bikes and scooters, at least, to 5% of modal quota that had been marked in the previous document. Even if it is the lowest number, in percentage terms it is the modal share that has grown the most in this time, in which it has gone from 2.5% to 3.8%.
