The representatives of the sector ask for a change of bracket of the authorities through the implementation of a series of support measures.
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This is an event in the small world of public transport: the opening, Tuesday, June 7, of the European Mobility Expo in Paris, Porte de Versailles, the first fair of this scale on mobility in the French capital since four years. This could have been a festival of the Renaissance of public transport, but the sector is not completely healed from the brutal crisis caused by the pandemic of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020.
Its organizers, Marie-Ange Debon, President of the Union of Public and Rail Transport (UTP) and also patron of operator Keolis, as well as Louis Nègre, mayor (Les Républicains) of Cagnes-sur-Mer ( Alpes-Maritimes) and President of the Group of Transport Authorities (GART), call the government on the needs of public transport in France. The observation is first of all a frequentation which has still not returned to its level of 2019. In 2021, one in five user of buses, metros, trams in France had not taken them over, preferring the car, the bike or telework.
At the beginning of 2022, attendance has improved, but it still oscillates between 75 % and 95 % of that of 2019, according to networks. And this user leak has left large holes in the box. “The financial impact since 2020 is major: approximately 2.5 billion euros in loss of revenue resulting from the sale of titles to travelers, underlines M me debon, which represents the employers’ organization of the sector. This shortfall was not really compensated by the State, which intervened but by granting repayable advances. “On the other hand, the other source of financing for public transport, for just under 50 %, The mobility payment (VM) paid by companies, has suffered less, and even found its level of 2019.
“new recipes”
“But beware, alert Louis Nègre, spokesperson for communities who organize and finance public transportation, the VM is one of those production taxes which are regularly threatened with state suppression. If we want to achieve the objectives Ambitious ecological transition that we have set ourselves, not only is the VM untouchable, but I can tell you that there is a sacred effort to be made which will result in additional financial means. “
The urban transport hierarchs highlight the cost of the transition: a gas driving bus costs 220,000 euros, an electric 500,000 and the hydrogen version nearly 650,000 euros, to be compared with the 200,000 euros D ‘A new diesel. “Eighty-five percent of the new buses purchased in 2021 were alternating energy, details M me debon. But the existing park is still 72 % diesel. This gives an idea of the magnitude From what we have to do. “The UTP and the GART clearly offer the government to change the gear, recalling their recurring request in passing to reduce VAT on transport tickets from 10 % to 5.5 %.
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