Matching mobility patterns with urban bus users’ typology and preferences through a cross-country cluster analysis

Urban mobility presents both shared challenges and divergent patterns across developed and developing contexts. This research compares bus service performance and user profiles in two medium-sized cities—Tangier (Morocco) and Oviedo (Spain)—to better understand how public transport meets mobility needs in different socioeconomic environments. A combined quantitative and qualitative approach was applied, based on survey data and contextual observations, with cluster analysis used to segment users according to their socio-economic attributes and travel behaviour. The cluster analysis reveals key differences: in Tangier, the majority of users belong to clusters of daily workers and medium-distance travellers for study and leisure, showing a strong dependency on public transport for essential activities, with limited access to private mobility alternatives. In Oviedo, clusters reflect a more diversified structure, including daily work commuters, weekly leisure travellers, and occasional leisure users, indicating greater flexibility and lifestyle-driven mobility choices. This contrast highlights the essential, necessity-based role of public transport in Tangier, versus its more elective and complementary role within Oviedo’s multimodal urban transport system. These findings emphasise that public transport planning must recognize user diversity and local conditions. In contexts with high dependency, strategies should focus on expanding network coverage, improving service frequency, and maintaining affordability. Where mobility options are broader, efforts should support flexible, quality-driven services that address leisure and lifestyle needs to foster more effective, inclusive, and sustainable urban mobility systems across different socio-economic realities.