Yet another year, TRAM has presented its Corporate Social Responsibility Report, a transparent document that outlines its environmental, ethical and social commitments to sustainable development in 2020, a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, the 4th edition of this report includes details of the alignment of its CSR strategy as a transport company with the Sustainable Development Goals.

TRAM’s response to COVID-19

The coronavirus crisis has been a chance to materialise TRAM's commitment to society. The streetcar responded to the health crisis by quickly launching different projects aimed at alleviating the impact of the virus among different stakeholder groups, offering safe public transport for citizens and protecting everyone on its team.

From the start of the pandemic, it put in place the necessary health and hygiene protocols and ramped up cleaning and disinfection. Its Applus certification, which was just renewed this July, has validated its successful implementation of all the protocols to prevent the spread of the virus.

According to Javier Pérez Fortea, President of TRAM, ‘it has been a huge effort, and I'm proud to say that we have successfully managed this change, adapted and above all, made the streetcar a safe place for everyone, users and staff alike’. In 2020, TRAM continued partnering with entities that work with vulnerable groups, such as the Red Cross, IRES Foundation, Hospital Clínic and Arrels Foundation. ‘We have to continue to build more liveable and sustainable cities where public transport is an essential cornerstone and where sustainable mobility drives the recovery’, added Pérez Fortea.

Commitments to the SDGs

Through its CSR strategy, TRAM has pledged to abide by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2020, the TRAM Board of Directors approved the 2021 CSR Plan, which focuses on 7 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by setting goals and specific actions to achieve them.

According to the company's president, TRAM believes that the only way to create value is by incorporating the SDGs into all processes, procedures and instructions governing its activity.

You can see the full report here.

TRAM has been granted the renewal of its seal of quality for hygiene and control that certifies all protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are applied properly. This is just another example of how TRAM looks out for the wellbeing of its employees and riders, almost one and a half years after the pandemic was declared.

Yet again, just as in 2020, Applus Certification was the company that carried out the week-long audit of the physical protocols and measures regarding hygiene, technical and organisational issues, equipment and access control. After an exhaustive analysis, Applus has granted TRAM certification showing that all of these protocols are applied properly and effectively to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in its facilities.

The first year of the pandemic in figures

From the beginning of this healthcare crisis, TRAM has had the necessary health and hygiene protocols in place and has stepped up its cleaning and disinfection.

In 2020, we spent more than 5,300 extra hours on specialised cleaning; we guaranteed that the air in the vehicles was renewed every 5 minutes; we purchased almost 2,000 masks and more than 1,500 litres of hand sanitiser to protect our team and users; and we posted more than 2,500 information signs.

All told, TRAM allocated €266,389 to palliate the effects of COVID-19 in its facilities, and it earmarked €230,892 to assist the groups that were the most disadvantaged and harmed by the circumstances through donations and charitable contributions.

This Applus Certification confirms that the efforts the company has been making since the pandemic was declared are appropriate and implemented correctly.

For the fourth year in a row, TRAM has renewed its collaboration agreement with the MACBA, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), Fundació Joan Miró, Fundació Museu Picasso de Barcelona, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) and Fundació Antoni Tàpies in order to help promote exhibitions at these museums and cultural centres through Tramvia de Barcelona.

The agreement establishes a collaboration between the TRAM and the six museums in the Articket group to reactivate culture, help raise awareness of upcoming exhibitions and share the cultural events on offer at the city’s museums. So, TRAM has committed to raising awareness of the cultural events and encouraging people to go to museums through various actions in 2021 and 2022 through its corporate channels.

As a result, tram riders will get double exposure to Barcelona cultural events: on the TRAM social media and on signs throughout the tram system from each of the museums.

Plus, the agreement also includes other considerations, such as dissemination of art and culture through the Tramvia de Barcelona channels and the use of spaces to host activities and events.

Calendar of communication actions on the TRAM

The Tramvia de Barcelona calendar of campaigns will kick off next month with a tram on the Trambaix network covered in a vinyl sheath featuring “The Endless War” exhibition at Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. The schedule for the other actions is:

• Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya: TRAM Action from 1 July to 31 August 2021.
• CCCB: TRAM Action from 1 September to 31 October 2021.
• Fundació Antoni Tàpies: TRAM Action from 1 November to 31 December 2021.
• Museu Picasso: TRAM Action from 1 January to 28 February 2022.
• Fundació Joan Miró: TRAM Action from 1 March to 30 April 2022.
• MACBA: TRAM Action from 1 May to 30 June 2022.

About Articket

Articket is a pass that gains you entry to the six art museums in Barcelona for twelve months. The museums included in this pass are: CCCB, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Fundació Miró, MACBA, MNAC and Museu Picasso. In the shape of a passport, with tours and interesting facts about the city, the Articket proposes a journey into the art on display at the city’s main art museums, with a 45% discount on general tickets.

TRAM is once again joining in the LGBTIQ+ Pride Day celebrations with various actions to prevent and detect LGBTphobia and raise awareness of this community.

Today, all the TRAM vehicles are flying the traditional LGBTIQ+ flag in the driver cabin to show support for internal staff, riders and citizens in general on Pride Day. From Monday 21 June, one tram each has been running on the Trambaix and Trambesòs networks with an image of various profiles of people with the slogan “orgullosxs de tu” (proud of you). With this creative display, Tramvia wants to highlight that it does not discriminate on the basis of gender, identity, sexual orientation or any other reason among its staff or people using public transport.

By spreading this message on the trams and our digital channels, we hope to celebrate diversity and raise awareness on this day full of both joy and activism.

Collaboration with Festival Cruïlla to stop harassment

Furthermore, this year TRAM is extending its collaboration with Festival Cruïlla and snapping into action with the project “Al Cruïlla no callem by TRAM”. The two organisations have joined forces to create an action plan to inform, raise awareness and help the public in cases of discriminatory attacks or harassment at this music festival on 8, 9 and 10 July.

The over 3,000 workers and volunteers at Festival Cruïlla will receive training on how to act if they come across or are made aware of this type of situation. The project will also set up a space on the grounds with staff specialising in prevention, detection and care for harassment victims. Access to this service will be guaranteed with designated staff who will be well marked and roaming the whole Festival grounds. Cruïlla festival-goers will also be given informational materials about joining an anti-harassment network.

This way, TRAM and Cruïlla hope to create a discrimination-free space.

As every year, Trambesòs line T4 will run non-stop the whole weekend of the festival to ensure safe, sustainable transport: from Friday 9 July at 5:00 am to Sunday 11 July at 12 midnight.

TRAM is kicking off the second edition of Art al TRAM, a project to bring urban art to the underground walls of the tram, with cultural platform Rebobinart, by renovating the walls of the Besòs stop on Trambesòs T5 and T6 lines.

Amaia Arrazola is the artist chosen to paint the mural on the two walls inside the Besòs tram stop. On one side, the mural will feature representations of TRAM values through several people showing attitudes reflecting equality, sustainability and inclusiveness. And, on the other side, the artist has chosen to depict several local species of birds that can be seen right around the stop. The works will begin today on 7 June and are expected to finish by the 21 of the same month.

Amaia Arrazola’s participation, in short, will pay tribute to a metropolitan city, modern, global, connected and inclusive, that doesn’t turn its back on the environment. It will also represent the diversity of people who use public transport and connect the interior and exterior of the stop.

The artist, born in Vitoria-Gasteiz and living in Barcelona, has shown great mastery of various techniques, including print illustration, mural painting and ceramics, which she uses to experiment and create extremely expressive pieces.

What is Art al TRAM?

Art al TRAM is a project to promote quality art interventions at several stops in the two TRAM networks, Trambaix and Trambesòs. The project aims to use art to revitalise these spaces and make them more pleasant. So, TRAM is focusing on social and environmental values, bringing to the people a city model based on sustainability, social innovation and inclusion through art and culture.

This project began in 2020 with the piece by Iker Muro at Cornella Centre stop, with over 1,600 m2 representing multiculturalism and diversity among tram riders with a play on overlapping profiles that generates a sense of movement.

On 8 June at 7 pm, TRAM will announce the winning story of the seventh edition of La TRAMa, the online contest for collective short stories in Catalan.

Bearing in mind the current health recommendations, and in an effort not to put any member of the contest at risk, TRAM has decided to continue with online prizes yet another year via live posts on its Instagram channel, as it did for the first time in 2020. The literary critic and La TRAMa jury member Marina Porras will announce the winning story next Tuesday and launch a series of interviews with the participating writers: Manuel Baixauli, Mireia Calafell, Carlota Gurt, Ivan Ledesma and Care Santos.

Thus, TRAM will take advantage of the occasion to turn the entire month of June into a literary event:

• 8 June at 7 pm: Instagram Live 1, where the winning story, the author who coordinated it and the order of the upcoming interviews will be revealed.
• 10 June at 7 pm: Instagram Live 2.
• 14 June at 7 pm: Instagram Live 3.
• 17 June at 7 pm: Instagram Live 4.
• 22 June at 7 pm: Instagram Live 5.

Once the TRAM Instagram interviews are over, they will be stored in our profile so they can be watched again.

Up to 150 volunteers made teams of 10 people to write a collective short story in May. The stories in the seventh edition of La TRAMa can be read open-source at https://bloc.tram.cat/la-trama-2021/. And starting on Tuesday, the corrected and edited winning story will also be available for reading.

• La vida complicada d’en Martí Rigau (Care Santos’ team)
• La invasió de les suplantadores de dones casades (Care Santos’ team)
• A què juguen els Martínez quan s’avorreixen (Care Santos’ team)
• Un gir de guió radical (Mireia Calafell’s team)
• Guionistes del món, rendiu-vos! (Mireia Calafell’s team)
• Trames al TRAM (Mireia Calafell’s team)
• Petit viatge a l'Entremón (Ivan Ledesma’s team)
• Un d’anada i tornada amb malson, si us plau (Ivan Ledesma’s team)
• Quantes cares hi entren, dins del TRAM? (Ivan Ledesma’s team)
• Esperarem tota la nit (Carlota Gurt’s team)
• La sospitosa hilaritat del conductor (Carlota Gurt’s team)
• El bitllet valia tres monedes d’or (Carlota Gurt’s team)
• Dins la caragola (Manuel Baixauli’s team)
• L’últim trajecte (Manuel Baixauli’s team)
• El xofer (Manuel Baixauli’s team)

Prizes for all participants

Everyone registered and participated in the contest and wrote at least one valid fragment will win a T-casual transport card for Zone 1, a free three-month subscription to the newspaper ARA and a 2-hour Laboratori de Lletres writing workshop with Alba Dalmau.

And the 10 co-authors of the winning story will receive three T-usual transport cards for Zone 1; a free three-month subscription to the newspaper ARA; a €50 voucher for the Ona Llibres bookshop at 94, Pau Claris; and a 20-hour Laboratori de Lletres writing workshop with Alba Dalmau.