What do STIB’s 2025 figures mean for getting around Brussels?
STIB’s 2025 annual reporting gives Brussels residents, commuters and visitors a practical signal: the network remains heavily used, payment is becoming easier, and public transport is still central to daily life in the capital, even if works, strikes and budget pressure continue to affect reliability. The operator recorded 396.1 million journeys in 2025, just under the 400 million voyages 2025 threshold and 1.4% below 2024, while its cost coverage rate improved to 29.5%. For people living in Brussels communes such as Ixelles/Elsene, Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek, Anderlecht or Woluwe-Saint-Lambert/Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe, the takeaway is simple: use STIB/MIVB for routine city trips, keep a MOBIB or bank card ready, and check disruptions before relying on tram corridors affected by works.
Trust & Evidence📚 6 sources· 🧠 AI-checked· Trust status: not yet independently verifiedView evidence & verification Hide
Verification record
- 📚 6 verified sources — BX1 · STIB-MIVB Activity Report 2025 · STIB-MIVB Statistics 2025 PDF · STIB-MIVB Financial Report 2025 PDF …
- 🧠 Low confidence — AI-checked
- 🇧🇪 Belgian impact: High
- 📜 Provenance recorded & timestamped
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About this story
STIB, formally the Société des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles and in Dutch MIVB, is the Brussels-Capital Region’s public transport operator for metro, tram and bus services. Its 2025 activity and financial reports show near-stable ridership, continued fleet modernisation, higher passenger income and a better ratio between own revenues and operating costs. The story is primarily a Brussels lifestyle and service story: how the figures translate into everyday choices for residents, new arrivals, commuters, students and visitors using the capital’s bilingual public transport system.
How to read this story
The history
Brussels public transport has been reshaped by three overlapping shifts: the post-pandemic change in commuting, the region’s long-term attempt to reduce car dependency, and the slow renewal of tram, metro and bus infrastructure. The 2025 data show that STIB has not simply returned to the old pre-Covid rhythm. Weekend travel is above pre-pandemic levels, off-peak use is rising, and contactless payment has become a mainstream option for occasional users. That reflects a city where public transport is increasingly used for flexible daily life, not only for home-office and home-school journeys.
Regional impact
The direct impact is Brussels-wide. STIB covers the 19 communes/gemeenten of the Brussels-Capital Region and connects with SNCB/NMBS, De Lijn and TEC services at hubs such as Gare du Midi/Zuidstation, Schuman, Rogier, Montgomery and Delta. The figures also matter for people in the Vlaamse Rand and Walloon Brabant who use Brupass XL or combine STIB with rail, De Lijn or TEC.
Local impact
For Brussels neighbourhoods, the practical impact depends on the mode. Metro-heavy corridors such as Schuman-Louise-Gare du Midi offer strong capacity and easy contactless use. Tram corridors can be more exposed to works or blocked tracks, so users in Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis, Forest/Vorst, Uccle/Ukkel or Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek should check live information before fixed appointments. Bus users benefit from fleet electrification but remain sensitive to traffic and diversions.
International angle
The international angle is limited but real: Brussels hosts EU, NATO, diplomatic, conference and tourism traffic. For visitors and short-stay workers, contactless payment and bilingual information lower the friction of using public transport without a local MOBIB card.
What this means for you
For most readers: use contactless payment for occasional STIB trips, but use MOBIB or a season ticket if you ride often. Always validate at each connection with the same card or device. Check STIB/MIVB service alerts before tram journeys, especially around works. Use bilingual station names when searching routes. If you live in Brussels, check whether your commune/gemeente registration makes you eligible for specific fares, and use official STIB or be.brussels pages rather than social media screenshots for current rules.
Opposing perspectives
- Daily Brussels passengers
Regular users are likely to read the figures through service quality rather than finance. For them, nearly 400 million journeys show that STIB remains essential, but the key test is whether vehicles arrive on time, connections work, escalators function and works are communicated clearly in both French and Dutch.
- Brussels regional budget officials
The improved coverage rate is useful but does not remove the underlying funding issue. STIB’s operating model still depends heavily on public support, while the region faces pressure to control spending and finance major investments in vehicles, depots, stations and infrastructure.
- Occasional users and newcomers
Visitors, expats and people who use public transport only a few times a month benefit most from simpler payment. Contactless bank-card validation, digital tickets and the STIB app reduce the need to understand every fare product immediately, although Brupass and Brupass XL still require attention for cross-operator travel.
- Accessibility and disability advocates
Accessibility progress is visible in low-floor vehicles, AccessiBus lines and more accessible metro platforms, but the practical experience still depends on lifts, ramps, station layouts and staff procedures working on the day of travel. For wheelchair users or people with reduced mobility, a technically accessible network is not the same as a consistently usable one.
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This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.