Despite the controversy, are you supporting e-scooters in the capital?
I believe that electric scooters are essential to develop soft mobility and last mile intermodality, just like cycling or walking. Decarbonising urban mobility is imperative; in Paris more than elsewhere, because Paris is a great laboratory. Scooters are an easy, light, cheap means of transport that is enjoying enormous success; young people love them. An effective way to put an end to the whole machine.
The city of Paris could ban them next February…
That would be a bad message. Instead, we need to put the package on carbon-free mobility. Residents of Ile-de-France are on the verge of tipping over, now is not the time to curb this momentum. I understand safety issues ; it is truly a subject with which we do not compromise. But the place of micro-mobility in public space must be able to be regulated by local elected officials, as is the case in Bordeaux, Lyon, Grenoble or even Berlin. There are solutions. Operators make offers in Paris, worth a try.
What do you say to the detractors of these machines considered not very virtuous from an ecological point of view?
I tell them: let’s rather fight on SUVs, which do much more damage and have no place in urban centres. As chairman of the European Parliament’s transport committee, I cannot intervene directly in cities. But I announce that I am considering regulations on the weight and dimensions of vehicles authorized in urban areas. I’m also preparing to launch a European strategy for the industrial bicycle » ; a first step for micro-mobilities. I would like the text to be voted on in December or January. The goal is to relocate and create new sectors, including for batteries. Tomorrow all the bikes and scooters will be” made in Europe ».
Read also – Electric scooters: how to reduce their environmental impact
How do you rate the announced increase in the price of the Navigo pass in Île-de-France on 1 January 2023?
Region and government continue to unload the hot potato through the media. This is not serious. This is not good transport policy. When Valérie Pécresse [à la tête d’Île-de-France Mobilités] pretends to be indignant prohibitive price of 90 euros set by itself , blackmails users so that the state comes to compensate for its deficit. As for the government, it has put 9 billion euros on the table to help motorists refuel, but nothing for public transport. Result: the increase in Navigo subscription risks losing 40,000 subscribers. It is an ecological nonsense and a social nonsense, because it is the poor who drink the most. Popular neighborhoods are condemned to immobility.
What do you suggest?
We obviously need to encourage public transport by funding it massively. Look what our German friends are doing: on 1 January 2023 their monthly pass for bus, metro, TER will drop to 49 euros. For this reason, the German state and the Länder will put their hands in their wallets. Which proves it is possible; it is a matter of political will. France has a big problem. You still do not understand the vital and paramount importance of carbon-free mobility.
What do you think of Emmanuel Macron’s surprise announcement last Sunday on YouTube that he wants to develop an RER network in ten French cities?
The RER is a real solution for medium-sized cities, such as Strasbourg or Grenoble. This opens up the suburbs, eases congestion in city centers and ends the exclusive use of the car. But transport policy is a serious matter; you can’t improvise. You need a roadmap and resources. Before doing surprise announcements of unfunded projects in metropolitan areas , the President of the Republic would do well to point out that the existing network is not working. The TER are even in an advanced state of degradation, which aggravates the territorial gap with the rural world. The state must invest massively in public transport, as in Germany or Spain. It should be a great national cause.
