STIB plans to offer all its customers an efficient and pleasant overall mobility experience, by anticipating their expectations and accompanying them at every stage of their journey.
To do this, it ensures the growth and quality of the public transport offer and is at the heart of the development of new mobility services in Brussels.
STIB achieved a score of 7.3/10 in its satisfaction barometer for the second year in a row. This major survey, conducted annually by an independent research firm, allows STIB to take the pulse of its passengers so it can discover the sources of satisfaction, points of attention and customer priorities. Despite the increase in passenger numbers on its network compared to 2020, STIB is managing to keep its customers satisfied by maintaining a score of 7.3/10, which is a good improvement over the 7.1/10 score STIB received in 2019, before the health crisis. This result also brings STIB closer to its target of 7.4/10, which it aims to achieve by the end of its public service contract with the Region, which runs until the end of 2023.
In 2021, the top five customer priorities remained service frequency, comfort, punctuality, connections and, lastly, journey times. Contactless payment is a new service that is particularly popular with customers. This system was mainly aimed at occasional travellers and tourists. It finally also appeals to more regular passengers thanks to its ease of use. The prices are also appreciated and are considered affordable overall.
Travellers are paying more and more attention to the feeling of security. The health crisis has probably exacerbated its importance, if only because there was less traffic on the STIB network. There has also been a general increase in precariousness in society as a result of the health crisis, and this is obviously reflected in public transport’s infrastructure. STIB is working hand-in-hand with the non-profit sector to remedy this.
Once again this year, STIB has had to show resilience, perseverance and creativity to continue to serve its customers and improve its offer, as well as contribute to Brussels life in the context of the health crisis. And its customers have returned the favour, as evidenced by the gradually increasing ridership throughout the year.
In total, STIB recorded 273.8 million journeys in 2021, which represents an increase of 12% compared to 2020, and 64% of the ridership recorded in 2019 (benchmark year for STIB).
Numbers have been gradually recovering since late 2020 and this upward trend has continued throughout 2021. At the beginning of January 2021, 57% of the 2019 level was reached, a figure that rose to 70% in December 2021, with peaks of 90% recorded on some Saturdays in December.
In 2021, the metros, trams and buses covered a total of 50.6 million kilometres on the Brussels public transport network, which represents an increase of +9.7% compared to 2020.
The kilometre production went beyond its pre-COVID-19 level, thanks to the resumption of the Noctis network in July, the arrival of new vehicles and the creation of new lines on the STIB network.
By ensuring maximum frequency on all its lines, and even increasing it on the metro lines, STIB has enabled the people of Brussels and commuters on its network to have maximum space during their journeys. This is an essential factor in improving comfort on the STIB network, and one whose importance has become even greater in the health context.
The reception capacity of STIB's vehicles is calculated in places-kilometres. Places-kilometres represent the number of available seats across all metro trains, trams, and buses, multiplied by the number of kilometres they have travelled. This measurement is commonly used in the transport sector. This indicator counts not only available seats, but also the frequency of the vehicles. In 2021, STIB achieved a total of 9.4 billion places-kilometres on its network. This rise follows the increase in the number of vehicles, with the arrival of the new M7 trains, the delivery of additional hybrid buses, and the creation of new lines, with the continued implementation of the Bus Plan and the extension of tram line 9. The availability of new vehicles has enabled STIB to increase frequencies on several of its lines, which benefits its passengers. In particular, metro frequency has been increased on metro lines 2 and 6, with a 10% increase in peak capacity in November 2021, followed in early 2022 by a further capacity increase, with a total peak rise of 20% on lines 2 and 6.
Without you, there would be no Brussels
The company had to deal with an exceptional situation again this year. In this context, STIB continued to operate and its staff were present every day to continue to make Brussels live and move. STIB has also highlighted this message in its new brand signature: "Together, let's get Brussels moving".
Ensuring maximum frequency on its lines, ensuring the intensive cleaning of vehicles, and also offering free travel to vaccination centres and organising vaccinations for its staff... STIB has never stopped looking after the safety and well-being of its customers and staff. In 2021, STIB's campaigns highlighted the extraordinary work of its staff and encouraged passengers to return to public transport.
STIB's "Get Back" campaign invited its passengers to reconnect with cultural and festive life in Brussels by using public transport. It hummed "c'est si bon" (it's so good), made them dance to piano music in the metro, showed them the light at the end of the tunnel, gave them flowers and gifts, and more. It goes without saying that STIB pulled out all the stops to win back the hearts of its passengers in 2021.
The quality of the service offered to travellers depends on all their interactions with STIB, during the journey, but also before and after. The buying experience is an important link in this chain. This is why STIB is constantly innovating to make purchasing its tickets easier.
In July 2021, contactless payment celebrated its first birthday and counted already over 2 million validations. By the end of 2021, this figure had risen to 3.6 million and contactless payment represented 35% of the 1 journey tickets issued. These results significantly exceeded projections. We can conclude that this new payment method is not only appreciated by occasional travellers or tourists, but has also been adopted by many other customers.
GO vending machines remain the preferred sales channel for all travellers. In 2021, STIB completed the replacement of its old vending machines with new, more modern and user-friendly models. New features: they are equipped with touch screens and the "full" models provide MOBIB basic cards.
2021 saw the arrival of new pricing formulas: Brupass and Brupass XL. The Brupass was formerly known as the MTB or JUMP and the Brupass XL is its extended version eagerly awaited by travellers in the Brussels suburbs. The school pass was reduced from 50 to 12 euros, to encourage young people to use public transport even more.
In the age of digital technology and new modes of mobility, it is essential to have clear, up-to-date and relevant information, so passengers can travel around the capital as fluidly as possible. STIB has understood that digital services are essential for offering a quality service to its customers and contributing to their satisfaction. That's why it continues to evolve its mobile app, so it can better meet passenger needs.
STIB carries on with its pilot application MoveBrussels. This MaaS app, which stands for Mobility as a Service, integrates the services of STIB and other soft mobility operators. Whether in terms of application functionalities, partnerships or even the physical variation of the app on the network, the MoveBrussels app continued to evolve in 2021, gradually giving way to the version that will be offered to the public at the end of 2022.
Of course, we can't talk about digital technology without mentioning social media. While STIB started out quietly on Facebook around 10 years ago, it is now present on many different media and has tens of thousands of subscribers. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and, since 2021, TikTok. People are always talking about STIB thanks to its open, customer-focused and slightly offbeat communication. It also regularly updates its blog STIB Stories and offers podcasts, which allow fans, enthusiasts and the curious to discover the Brussels transport company behind the scenes.
Albert station, Toots Thielemans, Neder-Over-Heembeek tram... These are large-scale projects which aim to improve mobility in the city, but involve major construction sites. This is why STIB is committed to involving and informing local residents and traders throughout the various phases of the projects.