10 May 2024

Passenger Transport Statistics (PT)

March 2024. Provisional data

Main results

The number of passengers using public transport decreased by 2.9% in March, as compared with the same month of 2023.
The annual rate for city transport decreased by 0.7% and for inter-city transport by 2.6%.

More information

Tables annex (includes information by autonomous community and type of transport)
Detailed results (monthly and annual data)

More than 462.8 million passengers used public transport in March, 2.9% less than in the same month of 2023.

The annual rate for city transport decreased by 0.7% and for inter-city transport by 2.6%. Within the latter, it is worth noting the 9.0% rise in the air transport.

Annual evolution of passenger transport by mode of transport

Percentage

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City transport

City transport was used by more than 287.7 million passengers in March, 0.7% less than in the same month of 2023.

Metro transport decreased by 1.1% in annual rate and City transport by bus decreased by 0.3% in March.

Inter-city transport

More than 132.0 million passengers used inter-city transport in March, representing a 2.6% decrease as compared with the same month of 2023.

By mode of transport, the air transport increased by 9.0%, the maritime transport by 6.9%, the bus transport by 1.3%, whereas the rail transport decreased by 7.6%.

Inter-city transport by mode of transport and distance. March 2024

Annual rate. Percentage

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¹Local rail includes RENFE and all autonomic rail operators. Long-distance rail includes AVE, AVLO, OUIGO and IRYO.

Special and unscheduled transport

More than 43.0 million passengers used special and unscheduled transport in March, indicating a decrease of 16.5% in annual rate.

The number of special transport passengers decreased by 21.7%, reaching more than 27.4 million users. Within this, school transport decreased by 23.3% and work transport did so by 15.3%.

Finally, unscheduled transport decreased by 5.5% as compared with the same month of 2023, with more than 15.6 million passengers.

Results by Autonomous Communities

The number of bus transport passengers showed the highest increases in Principado de Asturias (8.1%), Comunitat Valenciana (6.7%) and Canarias (5.1%).

In turn, the largest decreases were showed in País Vasco (-6.9%), Galicia (-5.1%) and Castilla - La Mancha (-3.7%) in bus transport.

City transport by bus¹. March 2024

Annual rate. Percentage

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¹In order to maintain statistical secrecy, data of Autonomous Communities of Illes Balears, Cantabria, Comunidad Foral de Navarra and La Rioja, and the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla are not separately published.

Metro transport increased in Málaga, Sevilla and Valencia, and decreased in the rest of cities with this type of transport. Málaga's metro registered the highest increase (94.3%), and Palma's registered the highest decrease (9.4%).

Revisions and data update

On the press release day, INE has updated PT data for the same month of the previous year. Results are available at INEbase.

Methodological note

The purpose of the Passenger Transport Statistics (PT) is to provide monthly information regarding the number of passengers transported by city transport (bus and metropolitan), inter-city transport (road, rail, air and sea) and special and unscheduled bus transport.

Road transport in researched through a simple survey. For rail transport, the number of passengers is calculated using the information provided by the railway operators (RENFE and other autonomous companies). The information for air transport is provided by Civil Aviation, and for sea transport, the number of passengers disembarked is compiled using information from State Ports.

Survey Type:: ongoing monthly.
Population scope:: companies involved in passenger transport irrespective of their main activity.
Geographical scope:: the whole county
Reference period of the results:: month.
Reference period of the information:: month.
Sample size:: Approximately 1,500 companies.
Type of sampling:: stratified random sampling of companies, by Autonomous Communities, number of employees and type of transport.
Collection method:: fill in a questionnaire by respondent using one of the following methods: internet (IRIA system), email, fax, telephone or post.

Further information is available in the methodology and in the standardized methodological report.

INE's statistics are produced according to the European Statistics Code of Practice. For further information at Quality at INE and Code of Practice.

For further information see

Official INE account on @es_ine

All press releases at:: www.ine.es/en/prensa/prensa_en.htm
Press office:: (+34) 91 583 93 63 / 94 08 – gprensa@ine.es
Information area:: (+34) 91 583 91 00 – www.ine.es/infoine/?L=1