Barcelona adds red bus-lane markings on Carrer de Balmes

Barcelona City Council has installed red-carpet markings in the bus lane on Carrer de Balmes to give buses clearer priority and improve service speed and reliability.

Brandon Watea · 14 Sep 2026 · 2 min read

Barcelona City Council announced on Monday that it has installed red-carpet markings in the bus lane on Carrer de Balmes, a measure intended to improve the speed and regularity of public transport.

For passengers travelling by bus along Balmes, the stated aim is a more reliable journey through a corridor where buses share the street with other traffic. The highly visible red surface is intended to reinforce the priority of the reserved bus lane over private vehicles.

Motorists using Carrer de Balmes should take particular care to keep the marked bus lane clear. Stopping or parking in bus lanes and at bus stops can obstruct buses and affect the safety, regularity and reliability of services, according to TMB, Barcelona's public transport operator.

Part of a wider effort to keep bus lanes clear

The Balmes work follows other measures focused on reducing obstructions to buses. A Barcelona City Council press office notice dated 10 August concerned completed improvements to Carrer de Balmes between Plaça de Molina and Ronda del General Mitre.

Separately, TMB has tested an artificial-intelligence system on four buses serving the H12 route, between Besòs/Verneda and Gornal, and the D20, between Pg. Marítim and Ernest Lluch. The six-month pilot uses front-mounted cameras to identify vehicles stopped or parked in bus lanes and at stops.

The cameras automatically take photographs and video sequences when the system detects a possible static obstruction.
The pilot provides statistical information to identify places where bus speeds fall.
TMB said the system does not record number plates or people, and does not issue penalties to vehicle owners or drivers.

Hayden AI said that its bus-mounted enforcement technology in New York, in use since 2019, has been associated there with an average 5% increase in bus speeds and a 20% reduction in collisions. Those figures concern New York, not Barcelona.

Passengers can check the City Council's official announcement for information on the Balmes measure.

Primary sources: noticies.tmb.cat, tmb.cat, barcelona.cat, gentmb.tmb.cat, Barcelona City Council, ajuntament.barcelona.cat, Barcelona City Council Press Room, fundacio.tmb.cat. Reported by urban-transport-magazine.com, itsinternational.com, cope.es, lavanguardia.com, 20minutos.es, La Vanguardia Barcelona, PERE VIRGILI, El Periódico Barcelona, Metrópoli Abierta - Urban Life, Barna Diario.