Un métro à Bordeaux ? Une hypothèse désormais consensuelle face au mur de 2030
During his back-to-school press conference, Alain Anziani, the president (PS) of Bordeaux Métropole, outlined the multiple mobility projects and infrastructures planned by 2026: the metropolitan RER; the extension of tram A to the airport in 2023; the cable car project above the Garonne by 2025; the selection of six free-floating operators, the Simone Veil bridge construction site, the advancement of the high-speed line south of Bordeaux, the establishment of a low-emissions zone and the joint working group with the on the ring road. On the other hand, there was no question of the metro project even though the Métropole has just taken action to launch, by the end of the year, an opportunity study on the subject, the conclusions of which are awaited for the second half of 2023.
Asked about the subject, Alain Anziani who, 18 months ago, had clearly ruled out the option of a metro in Bordeaux deemed too expensive, too far away and too complex, advanced his position:
“The objective of this study is not to decide but to know how much it costs and is it possible. Once we have these elements, we will discuss among ourselves to find out what we can do. and what we want to do, he replied, evoking a horizon for the metro “at ten or twenty years which should not hide all the work that we are carrying out on mobility today”.
“It’s inevitable”
It’s not a big yes to the metro, but it’s already a significant development now that the Mobility Plan until 2026 and the delegation of public transport until 2030 have been adopted. There is also a principle of reality: no one really knows what will be needed after 2030. The star-shaped tram network initiated in 2001 by Alain Juppé and several times since then reached beyond its maximum capacity. The demographic expectations draw a metropolis almost a millionaire in 2030 against more than 800.00 inhabitants currently. With the expected modal ratio, this should result in at least a half increase in the number of daily trips by public transport. Not to mention the growing competition on the surface between car traffic, trams, buses, cycle lanes and pedestrians.
On the opposition side, we therefore applaud the launch of this study on the metro: “The new DSP plans to increase the frequency of tram frames to 2 minutes 30 [contre entre 3 et 5 minutes actuellement, NDLR]. It’s the end of the end of what it is possible to do with the tram, then we saturate whatever we do!”, thus observes Christophe Duprat, the LR mayor of Saint-Aubin-de-Médoc and former vice-president for transport. “This opportunity study is therefore a big yes. Especially since if we don’t do the metro, what do we do after 2030? Nobody has the answer today… “
“Exploring the metro hypothesis is inevitable, I have said it over and over again!”, Supports Patrick Bobet, mayor LR of Bouscat and president of the Metropolis from 2019 to 2020. “This study is a good choice even if we lost two years by dogmatism. We must pay the price to have a precise study on which to base our decision”.
It was under his presidency that the last exploratory study on the metro was carried out… before remaining in a drawer as the municipal elections approached.
The other metropolises already convinced
Lyons, Marseilles, Lille, ToulouseLyon, Rennes and, perhaps, soon Nantes. “All comparable large cities either already have several metro lines are very interested in it, it would be surprising if Bordeaux were the only metropolis not to ask the question!”, also adds the centrist mayor of Talence Emmanuel Sallabery, a long-time supporter of a metro.
In addition to these three elected officials from the right and from the centre, the elected Communists and the environmentalist mayor of Bègles are also in favor of it. It was Clément Rossignol-Puech, in his capacity as vice-president of Bordeaux Métropole for mobility strategies, alternative mobility and the 2030-2050 outlook, who gave the green light:
“We are going to mandate a specialized firm with an envelope of around 100,000 euros to measure the advisability of such an infrastructure: the advantages and disadvantages, the impact on travel and connections, the cost and the timetable” , he told La Tribune a few days ago. “Then, when we have all these elements, we will have to have a new political debate on the follow-up to be given. In any case, we are talking about 2030-2050.”
Main concerned by the potential construction site, the environmentalist mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, has never been in favor of a metro project. If he is not opposed to this opportunity study, he is certainly not behind it and calls for “think first in terms of uses and needs rather than in terms of infrastructure”.