- For the majority of candidates, the tram network, which has included four lines since the complete opening of Line D on Saturday, is now sufficient.
- Faced with financial constraints, they are now advocating other solutions to serve the most remote areas, such as the high-level bus service.
- Only the outgoing mayor Nicolas Florian continues to defend the tram, and still wants extensions and the creation of new lines.
These elections could have been an opportunity to debate the metro in Bordeaux. "This may be a subject of the municipal campaign," slipped Alain Juppé to 20 Minutes , during an interview in late 2018. But that was before he retired from the mayor of Bordeaux in February 2019.
Despite a study commissioned by the metropolis, the subject of the metro was quickly buried, even if some elected officials think that it will have to be brought out of the boxes sooner or later, given the mobility difficulties experienced by the agglomeration. Meanwhile, between the financial situation of the metropolis, and the fear of launching major projects, most of the candidates for mayor of Bordeaux today favor sobriety and alternative solutions, and the debates revolve around the place of the cycling and the creation of bus lines, even the tram being considered from now on too expensive.
Nicolas Florian, the only candidate to defend the extension of the network
"Today, our main needs for tram lines are covered, we have to think differently," insists Pierre Hurmic, who leads the Bordeaux Respire list (EELV-PS-PC). “The tram corresponded to a time when public money was less scarce than today, now we are entering a period where 20 to 25 million euros per kilometer for transport is prohibitive. Same speech on the side of the candidate for Renewal Bordeaux (The Republic on the move), Thomas Cazenave, who never stops waving the red rag of the financial situation. "The debt level of the metropolis will progress at a crazy speed in the next three years," he warns. This invites us to have another approach to the development of public transport. "
With its 77 km of lines, which makes it one of the most important tram networks in France, is the Bordeaux tram now sufficient? The outgoing mayor Nicolas Florian, at the head of the list "Majorité Municipale" (LR-MoDem-Agir), is the only candidate to think that no: "We must not stop the extension of the network, we need to '' even more to mesh our territory, and to look for territories at the edge of agglomeration. I am for the extension of certain lines, and for the creation of lines too, from the hospital to the university in particular. "
Stop at the "mayors' tram"
His opponents agree on only one extension, that of line A to the airport which is already engaged. For the rest, they will not hesitate to come back to other extensions yet voted in the metropolitan council at the beginning of the year, they warn. Line D, inaugurated in its entirety on Saturday, could well stop definitively at its current terminus at Eysines-Cantinolle. And do not go to Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, as claimed by its mayor Jacques Mangon.
"We did not always make trams according to the needs of the populations, but sometimes according to the needs of certain elected officials" points Pierre Hurmic, who denounces this "mayors' tram. "Saint-Médard is one of the least dense municipalities of the metropolis, therefore one of the places where the tram is the least justified" he protests.
"These are political deals which have led to the extension of the tram lines too far, while alternatives are possible and less costly," says Thomas Cazenave. Pascal Jarty, an unlabeled candidate from the Servir Bordeaux list, also believes that it is necessary to "stop this headlong rush", this "dusting to satisfy elected officials." "" We have to adapt, both to finances and to user demand. "
The National Gathering advocates "demetropolization"
A candidate for the National Gathering, Bruno Paluteau also no longer wants new extensions. For the party candidate of Marine Le Pen, "over-metropolization" has serious consequences, such as the impoverishment of the countryside, the crisis of "yellow vests", pollution, the high cost of real estate ... Our objective is demetropolization. "
Candidate for the UPR (Republican People's Union), Gilles Garçon also says "unfavorable to extensions and new lines: the tram is a means which has found its limits in its uses, it is expensive, and it requires modifications of substantial infrastructure. "
Bus with a high level of service, the solution for the future?
Well. But what do we do, then? Because traffic projections are overwhelming and envisage an increase of 300,000 travelers per day by 2030, the TBM network then having to absorb more than 800,000 travelers against 530,000 currently. "If nothing has been done before, in 2030 we will be facing a wall" warned last September Christophe Duprat, LR vice-president of the city in charge of transport.
Everyone seems to bet on the metropolitan RER map, which consists of adapting and timing the TER lines, to transform them into an express network of the agglomeration and part of the Gironde. A majority of candidates also agree on the BHNS, the Bus with a high level of service, as a solution to be developed for the territories furthest from the city center. "The BHNS is half the price of the tram," says Gilles Garçon, for whom "it really is the way of the future, especially if you use electric buses. "
What about free transport?
Pascal Jarty also pleads for this famous BHNS. And, icing on the cake, it also promises “free transport. »Leaving to bring ... even more travelers on the network? This is why he campaigns for a star bus network. "Cross links, which will lighten the central section," he says.
For Nicolas Florian, the BHNS is good, but the tram is better. “The tram is a security on the times of circuit, the comfort of the trains has nothing to do with what we can see elsewhere, and it is a tool for regional planning. I am a staunch supporter of the tram. "
Whatever options are chosen, will these solutions respond to the transport crisis in Bordeaux? If this is not the case, it is a safe bet that the debate on the metro will resurface even more before the next elections.
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