Bordeaux Métropole announced in a letter to the Bordeaux Metro association that it would launch a study on a metro by the end of the year. 20 minutes questioned the vice-president of mobility, Clément Rossignol-Puech (EELV).
What will be the challenge of the study on the metro that you are going to launch at the end of the year?
It’s an opportunity study, not a feasibility study. We would like information on what a metro could bring to the metropolis in terms of travel, and modal shift, on which route – in intermodality with the existing network – at what cost and with what type of work? We voted last year for a mobility plan which runs until 2030, and which will revolve around the RER Métropolitain, now we are starting to think about the period 2030-2050. We do not forbid any questioning.
You say you want information on the work, does that worry you?
It is not the question of the Bordeaux basement that poses a problem [ce qui revient souvent dans les débats] because the techniques have evolved, but you have to know how many years of work this would require, for what type of gene for Bordeaux residents.
There was already a study in 2019, the Bordeaux Metro association also provided data on its side, do these elements still allow you to have an a priori on a metro in Bordeaux?
We don’t have a complete study that allows us to have the elements for decision. In 2019, the study was carried out by an engineer for two months, it’s still very short, and after the Bordeaux Métro association did with its means, volunteers who certainly have citizen expertise, but now we have to go further. There, we will have a study that will cover a year, by running the models we have. And I have no preconceptions.
But should this metro, in your opinion, respond to a main issue, such as better serving the right bank for example?
I await the proposed scenarios, with comparisons with other cities similar to that of Bordeaux. We are going to study the saturation points, the gaps, and see how a metro could complete our system in 2030. The trends would seem to say that it would rather be an intra-ringroad mode of travel, but I am waiting for someone to demonstrate it to me.
The study that you are going to carry out will relate in part to the household-travel survey, carried out in 2021, a slightly biased year for transport, are you going to take this into account?
With the Covid-19, the year 2021 was indeed special, but we will be able to correct the parameters. Above all, we have other measures, this survey will only be a decision-making aid.
Some refer to the “transport wall” that awaits the metropolis in 2030, with a number of travelers that will explode. Does this worry you, or do you think the mobility scheme will be able to deal with it?
That doesn’t worry me, the mobility plan makes it possible to anticipate, with strong ambitions to change modal shares in favor of public transport, cycling and walking. Normally it passes.
The public consultation for the RER Métropolitain will also start at the end of the month?
Yes, with a first meeting of all the elected officials concerned this Thursday evening. There is also the consultation for the cable car which will start at the end of the year.