The number of people using public transportation across the nation in 2023 exceeded 5,188.4 million, marking an 18.2 percent rise from 2022 according to passenger transport statistics recently published by the National Statistics Institute INE.
In December alone, more than 429.8 million passengers relied on public transport in Spain, representing a 12 percent increase from December 2022.
Urban transportation grew by 15.4 percent year over year, while intercity travel rose by 9.5 percent. An especially notable increase appeared in intercity bus services, climbing 15.6 percent.
Urban transport carried over 272.5 million passengers in December, reflecting an increase of 15.4 percent compared with December 2022.
Metro travel rose by 11.8 percent on an annual basis, and urban bus services grew by 18.2 percent.
The weather is falling in December
For intercity travel, 122.7 million travelers selected this option in December, up 9.5 percent from the same month in 2022.
By transport type, buses increased by 15.6 percent to exceed 63.8 million units, maritime transport grew 7.2 percent reaching 785,000 passengers, and rail travel topped 54.6 million, up 4.6 percent. In December, air travel declined by 11.5 percent, with passenger numbers at 3.4 million.
INE data show that private and on demand transportation totaled 34.5 million users in December, down 2.9 percent year over year.
Private transportation surpassed 22.1 million passengers, down 8.7 percent. Within this group, school-related travel fell 7.4 percent and business travel dropped 12.2 percent. Optional transportation rose 9.6 percent compared with December 2022, with more than 12.4 million passengers.
Growth across all communities
All autonomous communities posted positive annual growth in bus transport for last December. The strongest increases occurred in Murcia Region with 57.2 percent, the Canary Islands with 35.9 percent, and Extremadura with 27.1 percent.
INE data also show smaller gains in bus transport for Galicia with 6.5 percent, the Basque Country with 8.4 percent, and Catalonia with 14.5 percent.
Metro services expanded in every province where this mode operates, compared with December of the previous year. Malaga’s metro led with a striking 139.4 percent increase, while Bilbao’s metro recorded the smallest rise at 9.1 percent.