“Macron cars”: popular success slowed down by the absence of suitable stations
Opinion (with AFP)
Paris – “The Macron cars have not been accompanied by Macron stations.”: For ten years, long -distance bus connections have been a popular success, but they have been faced with obsolete infrastructure to meet customer needs and allow a more important development. A Wednesday in August in Paris -Bercy, people crowd along the narrow platform where the orange and green buses are aligning, between a few automatic distributors, Outstanding public toilets. Passengers have traveled on long distance bus lines in 2024, an increase of 14% compared to 2023, according to the annual report of the Transport Regulatory Authority (Art). was to reach five million annual passengers, against a few tens of thousands before the law. Transversal links like Clermont-Ferrand-Lyon, or Bordeaux-Grenoble, without necessarily going through the capital, unlike the train. Transport (FNAUT). while waiting for her Biarritz bus station, Emilia Potdevin, a 19 -year -old student, she chose the bus for economic reasons but also for her “ecological dimension”: “Filling the bus, it limits consumption.” In its annual report, art notes that the average programs by passenger of the coaches are “almost five times less” than those of the cars, and “close” to those of the TER. Michel Quidort, on the other hand, regrets a quality of service “more questionable, in particular with the quasi-inexistence of road stations worthy of the name”. The operators themselves sound the alarm: “What slows down development is not our will is the lack of infrastructure,” said the director of Blablacar Bus, Aurélien Gandois, who deplores the absence of “Macron stations” to support the expansion of this mode of transport in France. Same observation for Charles Billard, spokesperson for Flixbus: “In Macron law, they liberalized the trip by coach, but they did not plan something to welcome these coaches”. “Neither shelter nor toilets” Bercy station, where Sofia describes a “gloomy atmosphere” in which she does not feel safe, “especially if it is necessary to go through the park” which adjoins it, illustrates this observation. However, it is the largest bus station in France, frequented by 4.7 million passengers each year. While waiting for his bus to Portugal, Georges Da Costa, 46, estimates that it offers him sufficient service for his needs, while recognizing that “the place would benefit from being a little cleaner”. “The level of equipment of large national stations remains below the expected standards”, recognizes art in its report. It is particularly finger at that of Lille-Europe, however sixth in 2024 in terms of attendance with more than a million passengers. None of the nine equipment analyzed (sanitary, waiting room, staff, etc.) is available. “There is nothing, no shelter or toilets,” denounces Michel Quidort: “Just a post next to a huge station” rail. As the establishment and management of bus stations depend on local authorities, “there are as many configurations as cities and stops,” said Charles Billard. “We wish that in the long term, in a new law of transport, there is something more framed to also give the means to cities,” hopes Aurélien Gandois. Simon Avon © Agency France-Presse