RER, ZFE, metro… Toulouse Métropole is torn apart on the question of mobility
Whether it is the RER project, the ZFE or the metro, mobility strongly divides the elected officials of Toulouse metropolis, meeting in Council this Thursday, October 20. They denounce in particular the cost of the 3rd metro line and the slowness of the Toulouse RER file.
The question of mobility continues to summarize the debates in the Metropolis of Toulouse. The stakes are indeed colossal. The Toulouse conurbation, which already has 796,203 inhabitants, gains an average of 10,000 new ones each year. So many people who found themselves on the already congested roads of the metropolis.
” I am questioned every day, especially in the north of Toulouse, about the extremely serious traffic situation. The inhabitants of Toulouse metropolis can no longer take traffic jams,” reports Pierre Lacaze, member of the opposition group Toulouse Métropole Solidaire de la Gauche Démocrate et Républicaine during the Metropolitan Council which is being held this Thursday, October 20. Indeed, according to data from the GPS manufacturer TomTom, the inhabitants of the Pink City lose almost five days in traffic jams per year.
In addition to the problems of traffic jams, the climate emergency is also pushing to rethink mobility in the Metropolis of Toulouse. The transport accounts for 57% of greenhouse gas emissions on the territory.
A necessary reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
The Low Emission Zone (ZFE), set up in Toulouse on March 1, should precisely make it possible to reduce air pollution. Like us specified François Cholletvice-president of Toulouse Métropole in charge of ecology, its scope “concerns 430,000 inhabitants and includes the entire city of Toulouse ». But the measure divides. With the ZFE, vans, vans and trucks Crit’air sticker 4 and 5 and unclassified can no longer circulate in this zone.
“The ZFE will prohibit access to Toulouse to the poorest, the most precarious and to many professionals and craftsmen to whom we offer no alternative”, denounces Isabelle Hardy, co-president of the opposition group Métropole Écologiste, Solidaire and Citizen. The mobility is therefore entering a pivotal period In Toulouse. “The Metropolis must now make decisions,” says Pierre Lacaze.
The terms of the implementation of the 3rd metro line are worrying
Several options in the face of these problems are available to the Métropole, starting with the 3rd metro line. The work has just started. But some opposition politicians, although “not opposed to a 3rd line”, denounce the terms of its implementation and above all, its “excessive cost”. ” According the last amount advanced by Tisséo, it should amount to 3.5 billion euros. “We learned that the 3rd line was going to lead to an additional cost of at least 300 million euros on the civil engineering markets, and this without taking into account the surge in energy prices”, underlines Aymeric Deheurles, member of the opposition group Alternative for a Citizen Metropolis (AMC).
For him, this 3rd line is a “money pit”. “Aymeric Deheurles thus deplores that it is not carried out by section to “either stagger the expenses. ” Caroline Honvault, also a member of AMC, says to the attention of Jean-Luc Moudenc, president of the Metropolis: “We regret that you persist in pursuing your pharaonic projects like this 3rd line. You show deadly relentlessness when all the signs show that it is no longer tenable. »
A failing 3rd metro line in the face of the emergency
In this sense, Isabelle Hardy asks for “a transparent and precise analysis of the financial sustainability of the 3rd line and solutions to respond to the emergency” as Marc Péré, mayor of L’Union, has already done. “This line will only see the light of day in 2030 or even 2032 at best,” she insists. Pierre Lacaze adds: “It will not be enough to build the 3rd line in ten years. We need to address urgent issues now. »
Sacha Briand, vice-president of Toulouse Métropole in charge of finance, of course defended the 3rd line. “We remain convinced that this line is structuring and which does not simply concern Toulouse, Sicoval, Blagnac or Colomiers. With this line, the work of bringing territories together will be able to engage. This line makes it possible to go from one third to two thirds of the population of the urban area near a mode of public transport “says Sacha Briand.
The development of bicycles and buses in the Metropolis
For Aymeric Deheurles, the Métropole has bet everything on the 3rd line and is “doing nothing” on the other projects. “In particular, we are sold a REV (Réseau Express Vélo, editor’s note) that is awake, fragmented, inconsistent, while everything indicates that the use of bicycles is on the rise,” laments the AMC member. As a reminder, the REV represents 370 kilometers of cycle paths in Haute-Garonne, including 240 on the metropolitan territory. Sacha Briand agrees, but without saying more: “It is necessary to strengthen the development of soft modes of transport”.
The development of the bus network is also a source of concern. Aymeric Deheurles denounces “an organized discovery” by referring to the reduction in frequency of passage in particular. Jean-Luc Moudenc, who wanted to be reassuring, announced the launch of a working group on the metropolis bus network to project its development on the horizon of the 3rd metro line. »
The Toulouse RER returns to the carpet
The elected representatives of opposition to the Métropole cannot deal with the question of mobility without mentioning the Toulouse RER. “There is an urgent need to offer public transport that are real alternatives to the car in the years to come. This is why we have long supported the creation of a Toulouse RER,” says Isabelle Hardy. Some opposition elected officials have thus proposed a wish to launch “a first phase of an RER running every 30 minutes from 5 a.m. to midnight.
Isabelle Hardy also asks for “precise clarification of the technical methods and the real costs of this RER”. “In this, we support Georges Meric’s request “, informs the co-president of the group Métropole Écologiste, Solidaire et Citoyenne. The president of the Departmental Council of Haute-Garonne intends to request the communication of all the studies carried out on the Toulouse RER.
A game of ping-pong between stakeholders
Like Georges Méric, the elected officials are indeed starting to get impatient with the slowness of the file and the “game of ping-pong” between the parties concerned: the Occitanie Region, the Metropolis, the Department and the prefecture of Haute-Garonne. “The important thing is that you find a space where everyone gets involved and doesn’t pass the responsibility on to the other”, Isabelle Hardy. Sacha Briand wanted to ensure: “I am available to contact the Region, competent in matters of TER, and to have a concrete point on the implementation of this project”.
The president of Tisséo, Jean-Michel Lattes, has also made it known that he intends to write to Carole Delga, the president of the Region, to propose a meeting with all the actors in the file. If Sacha Briand assures that the majority is “not against this project”, Jean-Luc Moudenc was clear: “I will be vigilant that not a cent of a euro from our community goes to finance this project which is beyond our competence. »