Tramway in Bordeaux -

Mickaël Bosredon / 20 Minutes

  • On average, 25% of transport users in metropolitan areas did not return between the two confinements, a figure which rises to 30% in Bordeaux.

  • The urgency for Keolis in Bordeaux is to regain the trust of users.

  • In the medium term, it will also be necessary to rethink the offer by taking more account of the user.

The Keolis urban transport group has just unveiled the first lessons from the Covid-19 crisis.

And they are not very positive.

“Overall, we got a big bucket of water over our heads!

», Summarizes Eric Chareyron, director of the group's foresight, on reading a study called Kéoscopie, carried out on 4,500 people throughout France, in June, in July and then in October.

In metropolitan areas, 25% of users did not return to public transport between the two confinements.

This figure rises to 30% on the Bordeaux Métropole network.

“Public transport has become a place of anguish crystallization, analyzes Eric Chareyron.

We meet people there, who are strangers too!

However, our study shows that when it comes to respecting barrier gestures, we trust our friends and families at 90%, our traders, neighbors and colleagues at 70%, but when we do not know people, trust drops to 30%.

We are penalized by that, and even more in the metro than in the tram.

"

"Regain user confidence"

"For the moment, these lost customers do not say they are ready to come back," continues Keolis Bordeaux Métropole Managing Director Pierrick Poirier.

We need to understand why there is this mistrust, while we are making efforts to ensure that everyone wears the mask, we have installed hydroalcoholic gel dispensers, and while there are almost no clusters in the transports.

"

The urgency for the Bordeaux transport operator, which will be a candidate for the renewal of the public service delegation (DSP) in 2022, will therefore be to "regain the confidence of users" assures Pierrick Poirier.

But this is not the only issue.

In the medium term, it will be necessary to "rethink the transport offer as well", because some results of the Kéoscopie study are edifying.

"A questioning of always more, always further"

It thus shows that a majority of employees would like to telework one to two days a week.

"It is not a revolution, but an amplification of a phenomenon which preexisted before the crisis", notes Eric Chareyron.

He also observes that “virtual museum visits have tripled, from 6% before confinement, to 18% in October.

There is also an evolution of home sport, which has more than doubled, from 20% to 45%.

We also measure a desire to return to proximity: the markets were popular, such as the small shops that we had somewhat forgotten, the hiking trails that we had lost the habit of practicing ... It would seem that there is a questioning of always more, always further.

"

Another point that interested public transport players: the living environment.

“There was already a desire to leave the big cities, especially in Ile-de-France, recalls Eric Chareyron.

There, the desire is stronger in October.

City dwellers have suffered from not being in contact with nature, not having a terrace or garden, and would be ready to leave their big cities.

And people will be able to work further away if teleworking develops.

That said, we believe that a metropolis like Bordeaux, both welcoming to people who want to leave Paris, and on a human scale by its configuration, can succeed and maintain its attractiveness.

"

"Users will no longer have the same acceptance standards as before"

“We note a desire to live more locally”, continues the director of Keolis Bordeaux Métropole, “in terms of service, this will mean taking more into account the territories.

"He also observed" a need to take the user more into consideration than the flows, so it will be necessary to provide better support to customers.

"The qualitative aspect of transport, such as the arrangement of stopping points, the ergonomics of vehicles, will become essential", assures Eric Chareyron.

“There will also be the question of the acceptability of transport conditions and overcrowding,” adds Keolis Bordeaux marketing director Aurélien Braud.

We will probably no longer be able to fully load our trams and buses as sometimes happens today.

It will therefore be necessary to increase the offer to support the return of traffic, because users will no longer have the same acceptance standards as before, that's obvious.

"

30% of users take the Bordeaux tram to less than three stations

It will also lead to a new reflection on mobility.

“In Bordeaux there was a strong shift towards cycling, even if it is still a bit early to say if it will last, analyzes Eric Chareyron.

But what has increased the most is walking, which combines very well with public transport.

However, we know that some 30% of users take the Bordeaux tram for less than three stations.

“The idea is therefore to encourage people to finish their journey on foot, we have to support this movement, because this will help to desaturate the load [of transport].

"

Keolis would also like more "to work with the universities to shift the re-entry times for students a bit, as is done in Rennes.

"Thus," the city of tomorrow will perhaps be more peaceful ... "

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  • Covid 19

  • Confinement

  • Transport

  • Tram

  • Coronavirus

  • Aquitaine

  • Bordeaux