The presence of cars and motorcycles on the streets of Barcelona, which became hegemonic and unquestionable, is becoming less and less. For the first time in the historical series of the Barcelona City Council, those made in the so-called private vehicle drop below 20% of the total number of trips (a reference that requires a rethinking, since bikes and scooters are also private vehicles). .
The figure has fallen in five years from 21.4% to 19.9%, an evolution in line with what the municipal government sought but which is far from the objective of 14.9% for 2024, as set out in the Urban Mobility Plan (PMU) drafted by those responsible for Mobility from the previous mandate, when the portfolio was already in socialist hands.
In the conception of said plan, directed by the then councilor Rosa Alarcón, the pedestrian was targeted as the main protagonist of urban mobility and that aspect has been achieved. 42% of trips within the Catalan capital are made on foot, this being the most common mode of transport.
Public transport, for its part, has reduced its weight in mobility as a whole despite registering record figures in Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB). This is explained because, despite its growth in absolute numbers, the increase in trips on foot and by bike or personal mobility vehicle means that the modal share has been reduced. In fact, something similar happens with cars and motorcycles: the absolute numbers are similar to those of 2019, although then it was above 21% and now it is 19.9%.
This percentage refers only to internal movements within the Catalan capital, it does not include movements related to other municipalities. Even so, this percentage is what Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet noticed most yesterday during the first meeting of the Pacte per la Mobilitat of the Collboni government.
“80.1% of trips are already made by sustainable means of transport,” Bonet celebrated in the forum that has periodically brought together for 25 years all civil society agents involved in urban mobility, an area that was very sectorial and technical a few years ago (those in which the car was king) and which has become for some time now the object of favorite conversation by brothers-in-law at Christmas meals.
Before that auditorium, those responsible for the City Council announced that work is beginning to prepare the new Urban Mobility Plan, whose time horizon ranges from 2025 to 2030 and which is expected to be approved by the end of this year. The main strategic lines will be to continue “reducing dependence on cars or motorcycles and mitigating their negative externalities,” in the words of Bonet.
At the same time, we will seek to continue increasing the number of travelers on public transport (which will require investments in reinforcing services that are already at their limit during rush hour) and bringing bicycles and scooters to at least a 5% quota. modal that had been marked in the previous document. Although it is the lowest number, in percentage terms it is the modal share that has grown the most in this time, going from 2.5 to 3.8%.
