Catalonia enhances services and launches new initiatives to adapt to growing express bus ridership

With express bus ridership surging from 17.2 million to 27.4 million, Catalonia is overhauling routes, increasing frequencies, and rolling out new projects like BRCat and on-demand night bus stops to meet demand and improve safety.

Catalonia launched its interurban express bus network, Exprés.cat, in 2012. The network expanded to include 43 routes connecting several commuter towns with provincial capitals. Before these routes, non-express services had an annual ridership of 17.2 million passengers. By 2019, express services had peaked at 24.2 million riders, and in 2023, numbers climbed even further to 27.4 million.

Interurban bus services have seen the highest growth in Catalonia, prompting route modifications to handle the increased demand. For instance, the Exprés.cat e7 bus line, linking Barcelona with Bigues i Riells, now provides direct motorway service to Parets del Vallès, continuing on conventional roads with fewer stops. Until April 2024, other services covered this 30 km route via secondary roads with frequent stops. In May 2024, the service was restructured, eliminating lines 302, 303, and 305 to focus on the e7 and other partial routes, boosting frequency and evenly scheduling services.

In the Lleida region, services have been bolstered to manage high bus occupancy. On the Lleida e2 line, connecting five towns to Lleida city, peak-hour reinforcements were added. Similar enhancements were made to the e3 line, linking Lleida with Alcarràs, now offering half-hourly trips during mornings and the middle of the day.

Additionally, an extra €3 million from the new emissions tax will be invested to improve the Exprés.cat network.

On-demand Stops on Night Buses

To enhance safety on night buses, particularly for young people and women, Catalonia introduced a pilot in February 2024. New stops were added to the NGi1 night bus line, connecting Girona and Palamós, serving campsites and nightclubs on-demand. Buses follow normal schedules and only detour to these stops if requested through an app, which also tracks vehicle positions in real-time, reducing unnecessary waiting.

This trial is part of Clic.cat, a brand dedicated to digitalised Demand Responsive Transport (DRT). Currently, there are 38 Clic.cat routes, with 195 more to be digitalised in time.

Introducing BRCat

Catalonia's BRCat project aims to revamp interurban roads by adding bus lanes, bike lanes, and sidewalks between major neighboring connections. In Girona and Salt, two cities with shared public transport systems, main avenues will be rebuilt to include dedicated bus lanes and bike lanes. Traffic light priority for buses will be implemented, and the bus service will transition to electric operation, increasing frequency. The first electric buses began operating in April, reducing headway times. Once the electric fleet is fully operational and infrastructure work is complete, further frequency improvements are expected.

These enhancements are projected to attract an additional 350,000 to 500,000 passengers annually.