Challenges – How does Toulouse want to play its part in the carbon-free transport of the future?
Jean-Luc Moudenc- Making Toulouse a more mobile metropolis is one of our main priorities, by offering alternatives to the car. In a few days, on May 14, Toulouse residents will be able to enjoy Téléologies, the largest urban cable car in France. It will allow travelers to save 30 minutes compared to a car journey between Oncopole, Rangueil University Hospital and Paul Sabatier University. 100% electric, this means of transport is 30 times less polluting than a car. Toulouse Métropole also bought 38 hectares of the former Francazal military airport from the State to experiment with the mobility of the future. The site already hosts Easymile’s self-driving cars and the “Hyperloop” magnetic levitation train test track. From 2024, it will be the largest technocampus in Europe dedicated to green hydrogen and will contribute to making Toulouse one of the great leaders in green aviation.
Will the 3rd metro line contribute to decarbonizing mobility in the metropolis?
Thanks to it, there will be 90,000 fewer cars every day on the Toulouse ring road. The project is also good for purchasing power since 20 million liters of gasoline will be returned to the inhabitants of the metropolis. Serving 200,000 jobs, one in two people will be able to get to work by metro, which is why I have been strongly supporting this project since 2014. It is the most effective alternative for reducing traffic jams and sustainably improving air quality we breathe. Construction begins at the end of the year.
Will tomorrow’s urban transport also involve cycling? What are your ambitions on this subject?
Cycling is one of the strong commitments of the mandate. Toulouse Métropole will invest 80 to 100 million euros for the improvement of existing tracks and the creation of the Express Bike Network, whose 13 lines will extend over 370 kilometers. A major traffic axis in downtown Toulouse, rue de Metz will be redeveloped and entirely intended for bicycles and pedestrians to calm traffic and ensure everyone’s peace of mind.
How will the Metropolis support electrification, the decarbonization of mobility?
We have set up aid for individuals and businesses so as not to oppose the end of the world and the end of the month. They can go up to €10,000 for the purchase of a personal car, and €1,000 for a bicycle. If, in addition, the State increases its efforts, if the Region harmonizes its own and if the Department makes a commitment, the most modest households and small entrepreneurs will also be full players in the necessary ecological transition for a better air quality.
Regarding electrification, users must be given the possibility of recharging their vehicles more easily. We are doing what is necessary with the arrival, at the end of 2021, of the first ultra-fast electric charging station (Avenue des Etats-Unis, in Toulouse), while 66 others will soon be deployed.
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