In the run-up to EuMo Expo 2024, we’re meeting various leading and influential figures hard at work improving public transport and sustainable mobility on a daily basis.
In our latest interview, we put three questions to Louis Nègre, President of France’s Transportation Authorities Group (Groupement des autorités responsables de transport – GART). 👇
Louis Nègre
President of France’s Transportation Authorities Group
European Mobility Expo will be opening its doors in Strasbourg in October. What are your expectations for this new edition?
It’s an honour to be hosted by a region that’s a real showcase for public transport inasmuch as it’s highly committed to an ambitious mobility policy. The transport network there is among the best in France and a source of inspiration for professionals both nationally and across Europe as a whole. The three-day event is an opportunity for everybody to discover or rediscover the mobility assets in France’s Grand Est Region and Eurométropole Strasbourg; the 2024 edition of European Mobility Expo (EuMo Expo) will bring together people from across the sustainable mobility ecosystem and serve as a platform for industry stakeholders. It’s a great place to explain our stances, exchange points of view and inform our own thinking. The exhibition will be a forum for tests of new technology and presentations of innovations, too. It’s a valuable and worthwhile occasion that only this kind of event can provide. Strasbourg is one of the three European capitals to host the EU Parliament; from 1 to 3 October, it will also act as the European mobility capital, and I invite everyone interested in mobility issues to be a part of this great upcoming event so that together, we can rise to the environmental and economic challenges we’re facing today.
On Tuesday 1 October EuMo Expo 2024 will feature a talk devoted to public transport funding; approaches to this issue vary widely across Europe. GART is the body representing mobility authorities in France; what’s its position on the topic?
The ecological and energy transitions are priority challenges for France and for our European neighbours; part of the solution is to develop mobility offerings. In France, this development calls for additional funding for mobility authorities; excluding the Île-de-France region, the French Senate has estimated that these authorities need some €60 billion between now and 2030. While new investments can be financed partly by loans, GART supports the idea that urban and regional mobility authorities should benefit from additional resources to ensure their mobility policies are financially sustainable. Indeed, public transport in France is still structurally fragile and struggles to obtain funding from national government. Together with our members, we’ve studied the issue of funding and sought to identify practical solutions; following on from this, we’ve suggested various funding models and opened the subject up for public discussion. Either a single solution or a blend of different solutions could be adopted, all falling within local authorities’ mobility remits. Potential avenues include reallocating some of the tax revenue from road transport to mobility, using existing resources and taxation, and creating new resources. French national government now needs to ensure the sustainability of the business models of all mobility operators outside Île-de-France (be they urban, regional, metropolitan or in France’s overseas departments and territories) as a matter of urgency.
During the 2024 edition of EuMo Expo, the talk on public transport funding will offer insights into the business models adopted in various EU countries; our neighbours don’t do these things the same way as us, so we’re bound to be able to learn from their experience and best practices.
As at every edition, innovation will be at the heart of the exhibition. How do you think innovation makes practical contributions to the progress of sustainable mobility?
Innovation is at the heart of the transformation of our ecosystem. Whether it’s through alternatives to diesel, smart transport systems or modes of transport other than solo car use, technological progress is leading the way towards more efficient, lower-carbon mobility.
EuMo Expo 2024 will highlight the sector’s latest innovations and solutions. The single ticket system is a case in point, embodying the benefits of innovation in the passenger experience. It means everyone can access mobility offerings without having to cope with a plethora of different tickets specific to each transport network. The idea is just one of GART’s proposals for the 2022-2027 French presidential mandate, now taken up by national government and entering the experimental phase: last April, we entered into an agreement with national government and French regions for an experimental period scheduled for late 2024/early 2025. This innovation is gradually taking shape and will start to become a reality on our transport networks in the coming months; in July, Syndicat des mobilités de Touraine became the first mobility authority to sign the single ticket experiment agreement.
