Reality or misconception, is the city still so congested?

Up to 60 kilometers of traffic jams last Monday from 8 a.m. The previous Thursday, same punishment. This time, Coraly, the service which coordinates and regulates traffic in the Lyon metropolitan area, reported 65 kilometers of cumulative traffic jams, already classifying traffic as “black” at the time of going to the office. At 8 o’clock, the congestion rate (travel time compared to smooth traffic) was 115% in Lyon intramural and within a 5 kilometer radius around it. And if the traffic improved slightly during the day, the situation turned into a nightmare again by the end of the afternoon. Bad weather and a series of accidents created quite a mess on the roads, starting with the A7 motorway, where travel times were “multiplied by ten”.

This will not have escaped motorists: reaching Lyon and driving around the city center is often an obstacle course. Has the situation gotten worse in recent months? Or is it a simple impression of déjà vu, without any real basis? This is what we sought to find out by consulting the data recorded by the TomTom organization.

A “slight increase for three months”

“From one month of September to the next, we have no change,” immediately observes Vincent Martinier, marketing director of TomTom. The congestion rate is on average 36% in the Lyon metropolis. Or the same as that of September 2023. “But if we look week by week, the lessons are different,” he says. And added: “The working days index is stronger than last year.” For example, traffic jams were up 6% the week of September 2 to 8, and 3% the following. And 8% last week. Only the week of September 16 to 22 is an exception, for a simple reason. Last year at the same time, the A7 was cut off to traffic due to heavy rains and flooding. This led to many traffic jams and caused the statistics to rise unusually. For the rest, there is indeed “a slight increase” compared to last year.

The back-to-school effect? Not really. “This trend has been visible for three months and it is quite obvious,” replies Vincent Martinier. The summer was busier than usual. In June, traffic jams increased by 6 to 9% depending on the week. On July 8, the congestion rate was 35%. That is 30% more than last year at the same period. The beginning of August was no exception, with increases of 10 to 38%, before a two-week lull. “We had already noticed it in 2021 and it is still the case: we fell back on patterns close to 2019, before the Covid period,” summarizes Vincent Martinier.

Construction sites involved?

However, according to the report communicated at the start of the year by the metropolis of Lyon, automobile traffic has decreased since 2019: – 17.5% in the hypercenter, – 13% in the perimeter of the low-emission zone, – 9 .5% on the ring road, – 4% on the M6-M7… But with still so many locks!

In this matter, the capital of Gaul is no exception. It is part of the same movement as the large cities which have undertaken major redevelopment work in recent years. Which can partly explain the persistence, or even the increase, of traffic jams, according to Vincent Martinier.

“In Lyon, as in Paris or Bordeaux, we are observing a reduction in traffic lanes dedicated to cars, in order to encourage alternative modes of transport such as cycling or public transport. But when we reduce road capacity, it creates traffic jams since traffic is transferred to other areas which do not have the capacity to absorb it, he explains. The problem is all the motorists who live outside Lyon and who come to work there. They need their car if they don’t have public transport nearby. Ultimately, this does not solve congestion problems, even if traffic decreases slightly. » Come on, be patient, you have just gained 4 meters.

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