In-person ticket sales on Barcelona buses scrapped due to Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has led the company managing Barcelona's buses and metros, TMB, to scrap the in-person sale of single tickets in buses, the last ones that drivers were selling.

During the health emergency, bus drivers did not sell such tickets temporarily for safety reasons, but from this Wednesday this will be consolidated.

TMB announced on Tuesday it is introducing QR codes readers on buses so that passengers scan electronic single tickets, which will have been bought previously through the TMB App.

The only tickets drivers were selling until now were single tickets.  

Yet, traditional paper single tickets, multi-journey tickets, those by days and T-4 – for elderly people – are still accepted and will still be validated by the usual validating machines on buses.

First fully electronic tickets

This measure sees the single tickets, when used on buses, the first ones that will be able to be used without any physical support.

From late 2018, TMB offers the possibility to buy all sort of tickets with the TMB App, by they still need to be exchanged for a physical one in the vending machines in the metro network.

TMB intends to continue with the measure after the pandemic, so that the possibility to pay by cash on buses disappears permanently.

The public company's president, Rosa Alarcón, said on Tuesday that "the driver will not have the extra work of selling tickets, which means up to 2 or 3 minutes, so the time the bus is halted between stops will be reduced."

She also argued that it is an environment-friendly measure, but admitted they sped up the change – already planned – due to Covid-19.