“We share the same observation in terms of mobility: the Toulouse area is accumulating delays, gaps and the outlook remains bleak. We have the same proposal: to breathe new life into new foundations.

What delays? In 2014, line B was to be extended to Labège with entry into service in 2020. This project was stopped in 2015, Labège is still not accessible by efficient public transport.

The Boulevard Urbain Nord was declared of public utility in 2011, it was to accommodate a dedicated bus line and pedestrian / cycle paths. This project was definitively stopped in January 2021 without replacement. So much money spent on studies, legal costs, acquisitions… for nothing in the end.

The 3^e metro line initially planned for 2024 is delayed until the end of 2028. It still has many obstacles before it: the environmental investigation, its carbon footprint, the felling of 2,500 trees, the relocation of the War Memorial, the struggle of the people expropriated, son financing …

The tram for the airport will be interrupted from 2023 to 2026 for work aimed, among other things, at making… crossroads more fluid! The price of the Tisséo ticket will increase. Worse, the direct link between the city center and the airport will be lost, it will be necessary to change the tram, what a regression! Traffic jams are still present; the recent widening of the ring road from 50 million euros to 2 × 3 lanes has not changed the situation. In addition to being late or canceled, let’s add that these major projects are very questionable from an ecological or financial point of view.

Toulouse is in the sights of Europe with 10 other metropolises for non-standard nitrogen dioxide pollution. Following an appeal brought by the applicants, including Friends of the Earth, the Council of State ordered the State to pay a fine of 10 million euros per half of the delay in reducing air pollution. . The pedestrian and cycling network oscillating between ambitious promises and modest and late achievements.

Problematic gaps? The inhabitants of the periphery are largely forgotten (first and second crowns), while Toulouse represents less than half of the inhabitants of the territory covered by Tisseo (480,000 inhabitants out of 1,050,000).

The Low Emission Zone should promote alternatives to the car and reduce pollution. But implementation has been repeatedly postponed. No specific plan for the development of alternatives to the car has been drawn up. Some heavy and recent SUVs will even emerge as “winners” from this device, a shame.

The desire to keep as much as possible the lanes dedicated only to cars leads to dangerous and uncomfortable situations: pedestrian-cycle conflicts in too narrow spaces, unattractive cycle paths (cars parked or driving nearby). The PDU in force is that of 2012, obsolete for the environment and travel, and Tisséo does not seem willing to update it.

Positive points in terms of transport? Projects have emerged: the doubling of line A, streets more conducive to walking in the city center (Ramblas, Matabiau, Daurade, Saint-Sernin, etc.), a few new Linéo lines, cycle paths, footbridges. But a dominant impression: the concrete projects are far from meeting the current needs of the Toulouse metropolitan area and even less by 2030. The only major project carried out in this mandate will be the Téléo cable car. Good, but the expected traffic of 8,000 passengers per day is doubtful.

“Many believed in the miracle of a metro that would quickly change everything. Little by little the miracle turns into a mirage “

Some prospects remain bleak. Traffic congestion problems will not be resolved with the 3^e underground line ; this is what the environmental authority (MRAE) indicated. Greenhouse gas (GHG) production is not decreasing in the region. We are very far from a continuous decline until 2030 which is however a mandatory legal objective.

This is also one of the reasons which led the 2P2R association to request the cancellation of the Urban Travel Plan (PDU), pronounced in 2021. Let us add that the Urban Planning Plan (PLUiH) was also canceled, because it consumed too many natural and agricultural spaces. The development of rail transport has not started. The various entities are passing the buck. Many intentions are displayed, but the achievements fall far short of the intentions.

Some of the public decision-makers continue to believe that the new road projects are a solution; However, experience shows that they hold the production of GHGs, extend congestion and destroy natural spaces.

Public finances have been under heavy strain since the Covid crisis. Public transport operators had to ask for state aid. Expensive projects like the 3^e line are weakened in their progression. Moreover, this 3^e This supposedly “ecological” line is not really so: the boring of tunnels, mining, concrete, and so on. will generate 880,000 tonnes of CO2. It will take 35 years to “amortize” this carbon debt! In addition, the many construction sites all over Toulouse will hamper mobility in the years to come. Many believed in the miracle of a metro that would quickly change everything. Little by little, the miracle turns into a mirage. In short, with this table and without a change of course, the public authorities cannot move towards more virtuous and more efficient travel.

Need a new lease of life! We propose to recreate a dynamic. Comment? First, let’s launch a new efficient PDU right away. This should start from the needs and put forward: the train, the bus, the tram, the pedestrian and cycle network. On the other hand, we demand a moratorium on road projects which have the effect of increasing road traffic. Let us put respect for environmental standards at the heart of this PDU: let us lower GHGs instead of increasing them as provided for in the canceled PDU; let’s reduce pollution for the lungs of our children and no longer be blacklisted by Europe.

Let us choose projects that are more realistic than the metro, such as dedicated Linéo bus lines. Let us clearly put the 3^e underground line; and this, at least until the adoption of a new PDU comparing several scenarios.

Let’s rethink the ring roads and urban highways by reserving a lane for public transport. Let’s create express coach lines on highways. Let us continue to divide the public highway into the number of lanes currently reserved for cars, in order to rebalance the space in favor of public transport, cyclists and pedestrians. The reduction in the number of parking spaces will make it possible to recover space, but also to create a modal relationship.

Finally, let’s develop rail: trains running from 6 a.m. to midnight, cross-sectional lines such as Montauban-Castelnaudary, connections between Tisséo buses, regional buses, and TER, clear and attractive pricing.

It’s Mobility Week. We call on all stakeholders to take this new beneficial course for travel: State, Region, Department, Toulouse Métropole and Tisséo. “

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