The first deliberation concerned the payment by the Toulon metropolitan area of financial aid of 30,000 euros to the external action fund for local authorities (Faceco) to provide support for emergency operations carried out in favor of the victims of the earthquake which struck Syria and Turkey, in order to ” be present at the solidarity meeting “. On this point, the far right, through the voice of Amaury Navarranne, saw fit to plead “ the resumption of discussions with Syria, to find the path of reason, the path of diplomacy through sincere dialogue with Damascus.
One of the big chunks was then the vote to approve the choice of land and sea passenger transport service delegate for the Metropolis from 1is May 2023 to April 30, 2029. The concession commission ruled in favor of RATP with regard to the overall economic advantage compared to the offer of the current delegate Transdev.
« This is an important file “, underlined the president of TPM Hubert Falco (Horizons), recalling that transport, with 130 million euros per year, is the first budget of the community. The opportunity also to highlight the fleet of ” clean buses ». In fact, 109 gas and hybrid buses out of the 153 currently in service on the 132 lines. Which represents, he adds, « more than 40%, while the State is asking to reach 6% in 2025 “. And to also insist on the increase in the number of journeys which have gone from 18 to 33 million since 2002, as well as on ” the rates, the cheapest of the 15 largest metropolises, who have seen no increase in 15 ans “. He concludes : ” We are proud of our Mistral network which is the best in France. And I trust the commission : the RATP was the best choice that provided the best service. »
Unconvinced, or pretending to be, the RN Amaury Navarranne put on the table that the offer which was accepted was more expensive by 15%.
The rapporteur Robert Cavanna, therefore, pointed out to him that ” the cost per kilometer was equivalent “. And ” Transdev proposed to make 74 million kilometers while the RATP offered 81 million, with a 16% service increase “. Not to mention the investments required by the RATP in terms of rolling stock.
Then concerning the 2015-2025 urban transport plan and its mid-term evolution Yannick Chenevard, the transport gentleman of the Metropolis, indicated that the share of the automobile has gone from 62.7% in 1998 to 52.3% in 2022 and that the share of active modes has evolved from 34.4% to 44.1%. Results which, he explains, “ are the result of the proper execution of the PDU ». « That’s why we are the territory where we breathe the best ! », embraye Hubert Falco.
Always cars
For the left-wing opposition metropolitan councilor Philippe Leroy (Toulon in common), the account is not there, however, and argues that the public transport network still lacks attractiveness. ” Toulon is the only one of the 22 metropolises to have no public transport on its own site (TCSP), which means that the car is the most used means of transport… “, he argues. And to continue: Toulon is at the end of the table with less than 1% of bicycle trips. A disaffection which, according to him, can be explained by the fact that ” cycle paths are dotted », and that therefore « taking your bike in Toulon is dangerous to say the least ». « You redo the avenue de la République without planning anything “, he reproaches.
« We went from 125 km of cycle path in 2006, to 308 km in 2020. And in Toulon from 6 to 70 km », replies Hubert Falco. ” And there will be a bike path on the Avenue de la République, despite the narrowness of this avenue where millions of travelers circulate “, he concludes. Great news for urban cyclists.
