MOBILITY
Mobility strategy to avoid using car in the metropolis of Montpellier
The Metropolis of Montpellier is implementing a mobility strategy aiming at encouraging its citizens to stop using their cars, including through the use of its public transport network for free, in order to promote ecological transition.
Tags: Public transport, bicycle, mobility, strategy, Montpellier
Challenges addressed
- Encourage the inhabitants of the metropolitan area to stop using cars
Main objectives
- Decarbonizing mobility to fight climate change and preserving the health of metropolitan inhabitants.
- Proposing an alternative mobility to all metropolitan citizens.
- Avoiding traffic violence and improving the metropolitan citizens’ quality of life.
- Implementing a fair transition strengthening the metropolitan citizens’ purchasing power.
Facts
Project type Mobility strategy
Partnership Metropolis of Montpellier and local bike shops
Start date 2020
Project description
The Metropolis of Montpellier has implemented a mobility strategy to promote the use of its public transport network and bicycles. It has therefore become the first French metropolis to provide a free public transport service to its inhabitants.
This strategy is implemented to fight climate change by reducing traffic congestions, reducing GHG emissions and therefore preserve citizens’ health.
It includes developing the current public transport network by extending tramway lines and adding 5 new bus lines.
As for free public transportation, it was developed over 3 phases:
- Phase 1: from September 2020, the metropolis enabled its citizens to use public transports free of charge on the weekends.
- Phase 2: from September 2021, the metropolis enabled its citizens who are less than 18 year-old or more than 65 year-old to use public transports free of charge on a daily basis.
- Phase 3: from December 2023, all inhabitants of the metropolis are entitled to use public transports free of charge.
In addition, the metropolis is encouraging its inhabitants to use bicycle by both providing a 500€ voucher to buy new or second-hand electric bicycles from a local bike shop and designing a specific bike network to connect the different metropolitan municipalities between them.
Impact and results
- Regarding free public transportation:
- In phase 1, a 3 to 5% increase in the use of public transport was recorded.
- In phase 2, free public transport use amounted to 22% out of the total public transport use at the end of 2021.
- As for the bike voucher, by the end of November 2021, about 18 000 applications were received throughout the whole metropolitan area.
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