The buses of the Municipal Transport Company (EMT Madrid) will once again be free, except for the airport express line, for 48 hours, this Monday, January 8 and Tuesday, January 9, coinciding with the start of school activities after the Christmas holidays.
From midnight on Monday until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, traveling on any of the municipal buses will be free. As on previous occasions, users must validate their transport ticket and, if they do not have it, the driver will provide them with a single ticket at no cost, the City Council reported in a statement.
The City Council has highlighted that the promotion of the bus is key to promoting sustainable mobility in Madrid in a period in which the city is expected to reach a high number of trips. With this measure, it seeks to promote public transportation as an alternative to the private vehicle.
To date and since January 2021, the travelers transported by EMT Madrid during the 50 free days, distributed over 17 periods, have been more than 46 million and the measure has benefited more than ten million travelers.
The capital was a pioneer in implementing this measure in January 2021, after the passage of Storm Filomena and that same year, to act on rush hour on public transport, it was activated from September 1 to 15 from 7 a.m. to 9 hours. Later in November, it was brought back as an incentive during Black Friday.
In 2022, free admission was activated on January 10 and 11 and, later, on April 19 and 20, after the Easter holidays. Two months later, coinciding with the NATO Summit, on June 28, 29 and 30, the buses were again free of charge and, in the month of September, the measure was implemented on two occasions: on the 1st and the days 7 and 8 to accompany the return to work and schools.
The free service was also activated on the first Monday in October and, at the end of November, the measure was activated again during the Black Friday weekend, transporting more than three million passengers. The last free day of 2022 took place on December 12 on the occasion of the return of the Constitution Bridge.
Throughout the year 2023, the free service was launched on six occasions: in the month of January after the Christmas holidays, in April for two days after Easter, at the beginning of September for five consecutive days and on the first Monday October. Later, in November, during the three days of Black Friday in which more than 3.6 million travelers were transported and, finally, in December after the Constitution Bridge.
During this year, Madrid City Council will continue to implement this measure on days identified with a high level of traffic or during episodes of high pollution.
