Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company

The Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (French: Société des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles, or STIB; Dutch: Maatschappij voor het Intercommunaal Vervoer te Brussel or MIVB) is the local public transport operator in Brussels, Belgium. It is usually referred to in English by the double acronym STIB-MIVB, or by its French acronym, STIB.

It is responsible for the Brussels metro, Brussels trams and Brussels buses, linking with the De Lijn network in Flanders and the TEC network in Wallonia.

History and operation

Founded in 1954, STIB operates six metro lines (39 km), 15 tram lines (128.3 km) and 51 bus routes (348.8 km). It covers the 19 communes of the Brussels Capital Region and some surface routes extend to the near suburbs in the other regions. 329 million trips were made in 2011, a 5.6% increase from the previous year. Ridership has increased sharply in recent years. The company aims for 400 million trips in 2016.

In 1991, STIB had a farebox recovery ratio of 28%. In 2009, following annual increases of 1.56% in passenger journeys and 2.4% in direct revenue, fares covered 54.8% of operating costs.