In Marseille, François Bayrou launches transport financing

A week of strikes at the SNCF (French National Railways). This is the timing chosen by François Bayrou to present, this Monday afternoon, his plan for financing the future of... mobility, dubbed Ambition France Transports.

The location? The Drôme Sainte-Marguerite multimodal interchange hub (PEM), southeast of Marseille, with a 600-space parking lot, storage, and a future tram station. All this, close to the metro.

"A nerve center from which all means of transport will radiate," said the Prime Minister, who donned a white helmet and orange vest for a quick tour of the project initiated by the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis. "It's a solution that we're looking for in all cities."

Also in his luggage this Monday afternoon was Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot , who insisted that " everyone wanted to be part of it " and stressed the importance of " the credibility of public speaking ."

As well as two other pillars of the government: François Rebsamen (Regional Planning and Decentralization), for whom the question of mobility is " at the heart of republican thinking " and Amélie de Montchalin (Public Accounts), who evokes " collective choices that can honor our heritage and prepare for our future ."

A special delegation arrived in front of the cameras by electric bus.

After a train journey for the minister from the Alpes-Maritimes and a plane journey for the other members of the government, who notably spoke of decarbonization as one of the four main "imperatives."

It is even "vital" for François Bayrou, in the middle of crossing what he calls his " Himalaya of difficulties ."

In his speech, the Béarnais then emphasized the need for "territorial cohesion", "regeneration" and "modernization of our infrastructure".

This aims to " offer fair equality of opportunity " and " stimulate economic activity " while " current networks are aging" .

He gave his teams " ten weeks of reflection and action " to " resolve this other French divide " through four workshops, with a target date of 2040.

Ministers and challenges

Ahead of them are other challenges that François Bayrou defines as " major ."

These include the development of the transport of goods by rail and river (which only represent 11% of the market) and the increase in the overall transport offer.

The head of government, who deplores the lack of mobility for medium-sized towns and rural areas, points out that " one in three French people have already given up on a professional opportunity " due to a lack of travel solutions. " How can a region develop if the companies that are recruiting are poorly connected or inaccessible to those they employ? " he asks.

According to him, this involves strengthening the opening up of rail competition, but also carpooling and better integration of artificial intelligence. And all this while taking into account the state's debt.

" The funding model, which has too often been built on sand, is not sustainable and must be rethought ," the Prime Minister continued, before slowing down. "It must be sustainable, credible, lasting. It must be more than just words, more than empty announcements. (...) We have been multiplying plans for decades. And what next? "

He also points out " such a heavy, mind-boggling administrative burden " that it can delay the launch of a project by " 10 years ."

He sees as a line of thought the follow-up to be given to the motorway concessions whose contracts will end between 2031 and 2036: " The State has deprived itself of a resource ."

Without saying more, François Bayrou wants to look at " what works and doesn't work with our neighbors " while describing " a society that is continually exploding ."

And he added: " It is up to us to fight against the territorial explosion (...) and to succeed in sharing a destiny that we will feel is common ."