In Rouen, cheaper buses to encourage motorists to leave their car in the garage
The consequences of the war in Ukraine on inflation, and in particular soaring fuel prices, pushed the Rouen-Normandy Metropolis (Seine-Maritime) to make a gesture this Monday, March 21 to encourage motorists to use public transport. Indeed, during its Monday evening council, it voted urgently for a deliberation establishing for three months a 25% reduction in monthly subscriptions on its network.
“We had to act at our level and our transport offer can be used as a tool to try to help households. By doing this, we can also have a positive impact on the environment”, assures the president of the Rouen-Normandy Metropolis, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, who hopes that some motorists will take the opportunity to test this other mode of transport. This measure should cost the community around 130,000 euros, obviously depending on the number of people who decide to benefit from it.
Tip network prices are frozen
In addition, the Rouen local authority has decided to freeze all the prices of the Tip network for the next start of the school year when an increase of 4 to 5% was scheduled, in particular to lead to an increase in its level of service planned for September. Next, with in particular additional buses on its lines.
It also decided not to make users bear the consequent rise in the price of energy on the operating costs of the network. For the time being, it is estimated between 1.2 and 1.5 million euros for the year 2022. “It may be less spectacular”, points out the president of the community who hopes that others will follow in his footsteps, “But this freeze, which will amount to millions of euros for the Metropolis, has more consequences on the family budget. If we had to pass everything on to ticket prices, the bill would be heavy”.
Finally, still with a view to favoring the modal ratio in daily travel, the local authority is counting on the development of its carpooling offer. The experiment carried out with the company Klaxit, which allows carpoolers to be paid without its passengers paying a euro, is extended and a carpooling line between Rouen (Seine-Maritime) and Val-de-Reuil (Eure) will start on April 4.