Europe 1 with AFP 3:59 p.m., September 10, 2021

Prime Minister Jean Castex made the trip this Friday to Nantes on the occasion of the National Days of Urban France. In front of the mayors of large cities, he announced a budget of 400 million additional euros (in addition to the 450 million provided for in the recovery plan) to finance public transport development projects in urban areas and metropolitan areas.

On the occasion of the national days of urban France in Nantes, which brings together the large metropolises, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, announced this Friday that the government would release an envelope of 400 million euros additional for the development of transport in common to provincial communities.

"I decided that we would add an additional 400 million euros to this call for projects for the benefit of mobility", declared the Prime Minister at the end of this gathering of elected officials.

A budget almost doubled for transport

As part of the recovery plan, the fourth call for projects underway in favor of public transport had been allocated an initial envelope of 450 million euros, extended to 500 million by the Senate.

In this, the government has almost responded to the requests of elected officials, the Group of transport organizing authorities (Gart) and the report of the former deputy mayor of Caen (PS) Philippe Duron on the financing of public transport, which advocated in July to double the envelope.

"We must salute this gesture"

"We asked for 450 million, the Prime Minister has just announced 400 million, this gesture must be welcomed", reacted Johanna Rolland, mayor (PS) of Nantes and president of urban France, recalling "the essential issue of daily mobility ". According to urban France, ticket sales collapsed by 35% in 2020 and tax revenue, i.e. the mobility payment paid by companies, fell by 5%, causing a total loss of around 500 million euros in large cities outside Ile-de-France compared to 2019.

"Our balances have been severely shaken and damaged," lamented Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor (LR) of Toulouse and vice-president of urban France.

In mid-May, the Prime Minister announced that he would further open the system of repayable advances to finance the public transport networks affected by the crisis, a first step for the communities which however demanded net compensation.

Inequality between Ile-de-France and the rest of France

Johanna Rolland then insisted on the "unfair situation" between Ile-de-France Mobilités, the organizing authority for transport in the capital region which received in 2020 approximately 700 million euros to compensate for the tax losses linked to the crisis, "and the rest of the country".

The cities have already requested 574 million euros in reimbursable advances, said Jean Castex on Friday in Nantes.

Earlier in the morning in Cenon (Gironde), during the Assises of small towns in France, the head of government recalled the increase of 350 million in the envelope of Reclamation and Ecological Transition Contracts (CRTE) aimed in particular at revitalize the centers of small and medium-sized towns, a measure announced Tuesday by Emmanuel Macron.