Stib passenger numbers up 7% in 2024

Brussels public transport operator Stib ended 2024 with 402 million journeys on record, an increase of 7% over the previous year.

The trend growth can be observed for trams, buses and the metro, RTBF reports, though more markedly for trams, regardless of the time of day or the day of the week.

According to Stib, the measures taken in recent years to increase supply and offer quick and easy purchasing solutions are now bearing fruit.

Looking ahead, the year 2025 will see the electrification of several bus routes. By 2023, Stib had ordered 70 articulated buses and 36 standard buses to replace the Euro 5 diesel buses dating from 2008-2010. The first of these new orders – an articulated eCitaro – will be put into service on line 53 early this year.

But there are other aspects to the electrification of the fleet, such as the adaptation of depots, the training of some 500 members of staff and the installation of recharging posts at termini.

Three of these are already equipped: Porte de Namur (line 64), the Haren depot (line 64) and the Marly depot (line 53), and several others will be added to the list over the course of the year.

In the coming months, the public transport company will also be taking delivery of more next-generation trams, accessible to people with reduced mobility.

Meanwhile, Cambio, the car-sharing platform, also noted growth, recording 1.1 million journeys in 2024. This is the second year in a row that it has exceeded one million journeys.

Launched in 2002, the car share service makes vehicles available 24 hours a day to private individuals, organisations or companies. Users pay according to usage (time and kilometres) without having to worry about insurance, roadworthiness tests or maintenance.

Cambio counted 71,500 users in 2024, along with an increase of 2,970 vehicles available in 147 towns and cities in Belgium. The company was already active in all 19 communes of Brussels.

According to a survey conducted by the service, almost 60% of users have a Cambio station within 500 metres of their home, and a further 20% within one kilometre.

“If we add to this the fact that 80% of users don’t have their own car, we can conclude that, for many families, the Cambio vehicle has become 'the family car',” the platform said.

Their survey also found that 44% of users sold their personal car after joining the service, and that 11% gave up the planned purchase of a new vehicle.

The platform estimates that on average, each Cambio car replaces 13 private cars.