12 May 2026

Passenger Transport Statistics (PT)

March 2026. Provisional data

Main results

The number of public transport users increased by 3.1% in March compared to the same month in 2025.
Urban transport climbed by 4.8% year-on-year and intercity transport by 0.1%.

More information

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

More than 526.6 million passengers used public transport in March, 3.1% more than in the same month in 2025.

Urban transport rose by 4.8% year-on-year and intercity transport by 0.1%. Within the intercity sector, there was a notable increase of 4.0% increase in bus transport.

Annual evolution of passenger transport by type of transport

Percentage

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Urban transport

Urban transport was used by more than 331.8 million passengers in March, 4.8% more than in the same month of 2025.

Transport by metro increased by 4.6% year-on-year and city bus transport by 4.9%.

Intercity transport

More than 147.7 million passengers used intercity transport in March, which represented an increase of 0.1% compared to the same month in 2025.

By type of transport, bus travel grew by 4.0% and maritime travel by 0.4%. Conversely, air travel fell by 0.8% and rail travel by 5.1%.

Intercity transport by type of transport and distance. March 2026

Annual rate. Percentage

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¹ Commuter services include RENFE and all regional rail operators. High-speed services include AVE, AVLO, OUIGO and IRYO.

Special and discretionary transport

More than 47.0 million users used special and discretionary transport in March, which represented an increase of 1.8% year-on-year.

The number of passengers using special transport increased by 0.8% and exceeded 29.6 million users. Within this, school transport increased by 0.9% and employment transport by 0.6%.

Meanwhile, discretionary transport grew by 3.5% compared to the same month in 2025, with more than 17.3 million passengers.

Results by Autonomous Community

All autonomous communities showed positive annual rates in bus transport.

The largest increases occurred in Extremadura (14.6%), Castilla y León (12.3%) and Castilla - La Mancha (9.5%).

In turn, Comunidad de Madrid (2.5%), Aragón (3.0%) and Catalunya (3.5%) recorded the lowest growth in bus transport.

Urban transport by bus¹ . March 2026

Annual rate. Percentage

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¹ For purposes of statistical confidentiality, the data for the autonomous communities of Illes Balears, Cantabria, Comunidad Foral de Navarra and La Rioja, and for the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla are not published separately.

Metro ridership increased in all cities that have this type of transport compared to the same month of the previous year. The Sevilla metro showed the largest increase, at 22.9%, and the Bilbao metro the smallest, at 1.4%.

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 / (+34) 661 944 540 / (+34) 678 168 837 – gprensa@ine.es
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