The increase in the number of passengers could be observed from early February 2022 when restrictions were still in place and when a traffic of over nine million people was recorded, compared with approximately 5.4 million in January 2022 and 5.7 million in February 2021. An average number of six million passengers per month has been recorded since March 2020, when the state of emergency was imposed and most employees started to work from home, compared with an average of over 14 million before the pandemic.
In March 2022, when the COVID-19 restrictions were completely lifted, the metro traffic continued to increase, reaching more than 12 million passengers, double compared with March 2021.
In January-March 2022, almost 26.5 million people used the metro, compared with 17.3 million in the first quarter of 2021, which corresponds to on average 227,800 passengers per day vs. 192,300 passengers per day.
A 95% increase in traffic was recorded on the M1 and M3 mainlines in March 2022 compared with the same period in 2021, while the M2 mainline (Berceni-Pipera) saw an increase of over 91%, according to the report. The three mainlines provide connections with the main office hubs in Bucharest, such as Floreasca-Barbu Vacarescu, Victory Square, Politehnica-Grozavesti, which together accommodate over 150,000 employees (50% of the total employees who work in modern office buildings in Bucharest). The increase in traffic is a consequence of their gradual return to the office.
“There is an obvious increase of the activity in office buildings since the beginning of the year, and, judging from our ongoing discussions with both tenants and landlords, more employees will return to their offices, even if they work in a hybrid system. This aspect is also proven by the metro traffic evolution, as the Bucharest Metro is widely used by the employees from modern office buildings. There is still a large number of employees who prefer working from home, but we believe that the share of those who come to the office will increase significantly by the end of the year, as we estimate an effective occupancy rate of office buildings of 60% compared with 20% at end of 2021,” said Madalina Cojocaru, Partner Office Agency Cushman & Wakefield Echinox:
The office market in Bucharest continued its positive momentum in terms of demand for new spaces, as the total transacted area in the first quarter saw an increase of 69% compared with the same period of 2021 and of 54% compared with the first three months of 2020, reaching a total of 80,800 square meters. The net take-up (excluding contract renewals) trend should be noted, as it had a consistent market share of 72%, significantly higher than the average of the last two years, of 56%.
IT&C companies were the most active tenants, contracting 47% of the leased area in the first quarter of 2022, while office projects in the Center submarket recorded the highest take-up (30% share). The take-up in the first quarter shows there is a clear potential for the market to overshoot the 300,000 sqm threshold in 2022 for the first time since 2019, in line with the report.