It was a commitment made by Emmanuel Macron in person, when he moved to France’s second city in September. Among his grand plan for Marseille, the question of transport figured prominently. The National Assembly validated the project by voting 32 million euros in appropriations in its 2022 budget for this component, in the envelope dedicated to “ecology, development and sustainable mobility”.
“A commitment and a promise kept”, greets the LREM deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône, Saïd Ahamada. In Marseille, which “suffers from territorial inequalities”, these first credits must be used to “open up the northern districts”, according to the deputy Zivka Park.
“A candidate president who begins to campaign”
But not everyone at the Palais Bourbon sees this gift favorably. Several deputies ironically demanded a presidential trip to their constituency in order to obtain this type of support: the socialist Christine Pires Beaune for Clermont-Ferrand or Benoît Simian (Liberties and Territories) for Bordeaux.
The timing is also cringe: if the deputy LR Julien Aubert says he “agrees on the urgency”, he points out that the problems already existed at the start of the five-year term and regrets that only the deadline of “the presidential election makes it possible to accelerate the pace ”. Same reflection in France Insoumise, where Eric Coquerel has “the impression of having a candidate president who begins to campaign” by distributing the millions.
In total, the transport component of the plan for Marseille will mobilize a total of one “billion euros”, specifies the amendment, for “priority daily public transport infrastructure projects for the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis” , including $ 256 million from state subsidies.