According to Sapo news, From January to October 2023 there is a 23% increase in passengers transported on the Lisbon Metro, the Porto Metro and the Transtejo/Soflusa compared to the same period in 2022, reveals the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action.

“Demand in urban public transport continues to recover passengers”, says the Government.

Despite the increase in the number of passengers, demand on the Lisbon Metro is still 7% below that seen in 2019, when the companies' operations had not yet been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, adds the Government.

In the case of Metro do Porto, the number of passengers recorded in the first ten months of 2023 exceeds the demand recorded in 2019 by 11% and at Transtejo/Soflusa the demand is 2% higher than that recorded in the same period of 2019.

The Government says that “in the four-year period 2019-2022, through the Support Program for Fare Reduction in Public Transport (PART), the Support Program for Densification and Reinforcement of the Public Transport Offer (PROTransP) and extra allocations to maintain the offer During the pandemic period, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action mobilised more than 905 million euros for public transport”.

“The 2023 State Budget Law included 138.6 million euros for PART”, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action.

“To these funds will be added another 50 million euros, to ensure the maintenance of the prices in force in 2022 for public transport passes, and another 60 million euros, in case it is necessary to guarantee the levels of supply in the public transport systems covered by the PART, still affected by the effects of the loss of demand resulting from the pandemic”, adds the Government.

PROTransP maintains a budget of 20 million euros, reinforced in 2022.

The 2024 State Budget proposal provides for the creation of the “Incentive +TP” program, which replaces PART and the Support Program for Densification and Reinforcement of the Public Transport Offer (PROTransP), which will be financed, by consignment of part of revenue from carbon taxes, worth 360 million euros, recalls the Executive.