On January 26, the new partnership agreement was signed by Thierry Mallet, CEO of the Transdev Group and Sébastien Martin, President of Intercommunalités de France (French Communities).
Three main themes guide this new agreement: solidarity mobility, the place of daily mobility in the recovery, and the balance of public transit financing.
Intercommunalités de France and Transdev plan to continue their work on the evolution of the institutional landscape of mobility organization after the complete coverage of the nation by Public Transit Authorities (PTAs) since July 1, 2021.
After the procedure for transferring competencies, it is now a matter of analyzing the nature of the missions that are carried out by the new communities of communes. In this respect, given the historical commitment of the communities of communes in the field of social action, the new partnership concluded between Intercommunalités de France and Transdev wishes to focus on inclusive and solidarity-based mobility. This issue was already at the heart of another study published in 2021 and carried out with France Urbaine.
The place of mobility in the recovery plan thanks to the contracts for recovery and ecological transition (CRTE)
To accelerate the recovery and support ecological, demographic, digital and economic transitions in communities, the Government has proposed a new type of contract to local authorities: The contract for recovery and ecological transition. Signed for six years, it integrates the State’s support mechanisms for local authorities (financial resources from the recovery plan, the rural equipment grant (DETR), the local investment support grant (DSIL), other ministry grants, etc.), and can be supplemented by the territorial component of European funds and the CPER (State-Region Plan Contract).
The CRTE is intended to bring together all the contracts signed between the State and local authorities. Now that the vast majority of CRTEs have been signed (635 of the 843 planned as of 17/01/2022), Intercommunalités de France and Transdev will study the place of public transit and shared mobility in these contracts. The aim will be to propose a state of the art of projects in terms of content, financing methods and location. This approach, both qualitative and quantitative, will then make it possible to propose avenues and best practices for the integration of actions in favor of the ecological transition of mobility in these recovery contracts.
Financing public transportation
The economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis have raised the question of the balance of the public transit financing model. Transdev and Intercommunalités de France would like to work on the development of the various resources (taxes, fare revenues, grants) that enable the financing to be balanced, in particular the operating budget.
In the context of the rise of free fares and social fares in urban public transit networks, a study will be carried out in 2022 to observe the contribution of the general budget of intercommunal authorities, which most often balances the financing (towards the transport operating budgets) but in very different proportions depending on the AOM.
This issue needs to be made more objective and better qualified, since the need to balance the budgets of local authorities could be to the detriment of certain investments needed to reduce the carbon footprint of public transport.