A bus in Montpellier.
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N. Bonzom / Maxele Presse
Between 2023 and 2025, four high-level bus lines will be created, to connect the villages, the districts of Montpellier and the economic zones.
These buses will run with green energy, and will be dressed by artists.
They will not necessarily travel on dedicated roads, but will have priority all the time: when the light is red, for example, it will automatically turn green.
In Montpellier (Hérault), the metropolis wants to create "a mobility shock" by 2025. Unsurprisingly, it is public transport and cycling that the eco-socialist community intends to favor, to the detriment of the car.
Among the arsenal unveiled during the metropolitan council, the network is completely free, kilometers of cycle paths, line 5 of the tram, the extension of line 1 to the lonely South of France station, and more park-and-ride facilities.
And a novelty: buses with a high level of service.
It is “a new mobility product in a territory strongly developed around the tramway”, confides Julie Frêche (PS), vice-president of the metropolis, in charge of transport.
These new bus lines, “real alternatives to the car”, will offer a new route of 50 km through the metropolis, via 60 stations.
Villages, districts of Montpellier and economic zones
Four routes will be put into service between 2023 and 2025. Line 1 will serve Castries, Vendargues, Salaison, Crès, Sablassou, Castelnau-le-Lez, and Place de l'Europe.
This route will pass through the economic zones of Eureka and Millennium and the district of Pompignane, hitherto largely forgotten by the Montpellier transport network.
Line 2, which will replace the current Ronde, will connect the Sabines and Paul-Valéry interchange hubs, the Tonnelles district, avenue du Père-Soulas, then Saint-Eloi, Aiguelongue, place Charles-de-Gaulle , in Castelnau-le-Lez, Benjamin-Franklin and the Sud de France station.
Line 3 will pass through the Cévennes, avenue Louis-Ravas, and will join the Euromedicine pole, and the future city of Med Vallée.
Finally, line 4 will serve the municipalities of Cournonsec, Cournonterral, Pignan, Lavérune and the Gennevaux roundabout.
This last route should delight the inhabitants of the west of Montpellier, where the car is omnipresent.
These buses will be "priority all the time"
“We, the municipalities of the west, are the forgotten of the previous term, the tram had been promised to us in 2017, notes William Ars (various), the mayor of Cournonterral.
We are working with the populations to explain to them that the high-level bus service will be a good solution.
I alerted Julie [Frêche] to the need to travel to a specific site, whenever possible.
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Will these buses run in dedicated lanes?
Not necessarily.
But what will be the difference then with a traditional bus?
These lines will be “priority, all the time, notes Michaël Delafosse (PS), the mayor and president of the metropolis of Montpellier.
When the light is red, for him, it will turn green.
In the sharing of roads, it will also be a priority.
".
And "the route will be as direct as possible, ensuring the feed-back [of users] with routes for pedestrians and bicycles, to stops," continues Julie Frêche.
Qualitative public spaces will accompany these lines.
"And there will be a passage" at least every ten minutes during rush hour ".
Our transport dossier
On the energy side, “zero carbon” buses will run “on natural gas, hydrogen or electricity”.
And on the design side, like the tram, the buses will be dressed by different artists, one per line.
In total, 60 vehicles will be put into service, and 200,000 inhabitants will be located within 500 meters of the route, promises the metropolis.
This new service will also be accompanied by an overall overhaul of the traditional bus network.
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