More than two hundred and fifty elected officials from the Ile-de-France signed an open letter to Elisabeth Borne on Monday, January 2. Anchored on the left (communists, LFI, socialists) or ecologists, mayors of cities like Gentilly, Montreuil, Bagneux, Colombes or Ris-Orangis, all are asking the Prime Minister to put an end to the process of opening public transport to competition by Ile-de-France. They denounce the « privatisation » RATP’s activities and the race for the lowest social bidder, while staff shortages are already profoundly disorganizing the transport supply in Paris and in all the neighboring departments.
Their letter follows that sent in December 2022 to Matignon by Anne Hidalgo, also a signatory of this letter. The mayor of Paris mentioned the risky telescoping of two calendars: that of the opening to competition of Parisian bus lines and that of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.
RATP drivers will be called upon to work throughout the summer and fall of 2024 and transport the 9 million to 10 million spectators from all over the world, just when they are told that they will be leaving the fold. from public management to join Transdev or Keolis, their two main competitors. Those who were dangled with a pre-determined career – bus driver for ten years, then metro driver for another decade, before becoming a RER driver – will they still be so motivated?
Ile-de-France is not the only region where elected officials are wondering about the opening of the transport market. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, which had decided in January 2022 to put the seventeen TER lines currently operated by SNCF Voyageurs into competition, reversed gear in mid-December. The big bang is over. There will be competition, but gradually, gradually. In the meantime, the region is engaging in a renegotiation « constructive » of its agreement with the SNCF, asking it to reduce its costs and improve the quality of service.
These two examples reveal the doubts that surround the management of public transport: is the game of competition worth the candle when we see the energy needed to organize the transition and the risks of disorganization? “We are in a business cycle that is not very favorable to competition “, recognizes the economist of transport Yves Crozet, professor emeritus at Sciences Po Lyon.
Complicated transitions
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