On this day in early August, she is not the only one to castigate this austere station in the twelfth arrondissement of Paris through which 12,000 travelers pass per day in summer, for connections provided by the operators Blablacar and Flixbus at low prices. broken, bound for major European cities.

In the darkness of the Bercy terminus, for lack of places, several dozen people are waiting on their suitcases, inhaling an air stale by the exhaust gases, without any real catering point, in a dirty place.

But this station is not an isolated case.

France is lagging behind in the development of its bus stations according to experts, compared to certain European neighbors such as Spain, Great Britain or Sweden which more often have toilets, an information point or a real waiting room.

Of the 324 reception facilities referenced by the Transport Regulatory Authority (ART), 126 are considered bus stations, but for the most part, the services are insufficient, or even non-existent, sometimes being limited to a simple bus stop at the side of a road.

"Not up to par"

The infrastructure has not improved since the opening to competition of the coach transport market by Emmanuel Macron, then Minister of the Economy.

"In 2015, the service is already better on board than in the station. Nothing has changed," says Arnaud Aymé, consultant at Sia Partners.

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A failing welcome regretted by the operators themselves as a brake on their activity, while most of the developments are managed without specifications by various actors, from communities to private managers.

"The infrastructure offered by bus stations in France is still not up to the quality of service expected by travelers and European standards", deplores Blablacar, adding that "passage and parking costs are sometimes high in relation to the quality of the welcome provided".

The National Federation of Associations of Transport Users (Fnaut) focuses its indictment on the notion of intermodality, a term meaning the successive use of several modes of transport such as train and coach.

"We rarely make a trip with a single mode of transport. We ask that these stations be located in the immediate vicinity of railway stations, urban transport stops, taxi ranks, to facilitate the user", claims Michel Quidort, vice -president of Fnaut.

But for the time being, more and more coach terminals have been moved several kilometers from city centers and a quarter of urban areas still have no real facilities.

"political decision"

“Bus stations are increasingly located on the outskirts. It is often a political decision by certain municipalities to limit nuisance,” confirms Mr. Aymé.

The town hall of Paris, failing to keep the promise of a new station in 2024, is piloting a long-term consultation.

"We are carrying out a more global reflection, with the metropolis and Greater Paris, to rethink the location of stations in the capital", explains David Belliard, deputy in charge of transport, who recognizes the need to improve reception at the bus station. de Bercy pending his possible move.

It is true that carriers sometimes prefer stops on the outskirts of large cities.

“Moving the bus station away from the hyper-centre allows us to avoid the risk of traffic jams and to have better reliability on our journey times”, declares Charles Billiard, spokesperson for Flixbus France.

However, a few rare cities are satisfactory.

In Grenoble, the department of Isère renovated the bus station in 2017, offering travelers a closed waiting hall, in the immediate vicinity of the train station.

“We feel a revival of certain cities for the bus”, says Mr. Billiard.

Flixbus is working with the town hall of Bordeaux to reorganize its facilities.

The demand from travelers, in any case, is there: this summer, Blablacar and Flixbus will exceed their 2019 passenger numbers.

© 2022 AFP