The ‘Taco’, electrical mass transport - FR

Problem

A city of 90,000 inhabitants, located immediately to the east of Paris,Montreuil-sous-Bois is served by a metro line and eleven bus lines. However, toget from top to bottom to Montreuil it is necessary to take two buses, andcertain neighbourhoods have very poor connections. This isolation hasrepercussions on the mobility of inhabitants, and more broadly their access toemployment, health services…Improving public transport between differentneighbourhoods is therefore an essential challenge for the city.

Description

Since 2000, the establishment of an alternative and flexible public transportsystem to complement the existing services has allowed a large swathe of theinhabitants of Montreuil-sous-Bois to get better access to travel, in particularfrom areas with the poorest service. In 2002, the association entered into apartnership with the “Mobicité” service of the RATP. Each year, the programdevelops and seeks to better adapt the local urban transport services to theneeds of local mobility.

Approach

The city of Montreuil-sous-Bois has supported the setting up of analternative transport system – flexible and complementing existing services. TheFriends of Taco association has been offering this service since September 2000,within the town limits. To use this service, an annual membership of eight eurosis paid to the association, with tickets costing €1.50 for each journey. Since2002, the association has worked with a subsidiary of the RATP, “Mobicité”, tomanage the service, making eight new electrical vehicles available.

Results

Taco tickets can be purchased at nineteen points of sale throughout the city:ships, associations, a building foyer, a leisure centre, the tourism office,restaurants, the social work committee. With 1200 members in 2004, the Tacostravel around town throughout the day. In 2003, 22,500 trips were made.

Beneficiaries

This service meets the needs of a large swathe of the population, includingschoolchildren. The elderly use the Taco the most and represent 60% of users.The service also meets its objective of providing transport for those areas withthe worst transport links, as more than 30% of members live in the criticalurban areas (ZUS) of Montreuil-sous-Bois.

Resources

The Taco has eight electrical vehicles, all equipped with a low flooraccessible to wheelchairs and buggies. The ten drivers are all local people,hired as a result of the “New services, youth employment” program, within thecontext of professional reintegration. To this team is added a site manager anda scheduler who plans Taco routes. The operational budget is €450,000, of which€30,000 comes from tickets sales and membership cards, the rest coming fromsubsidies from the city, the government and the environmental and energy controlagency.

Contact info

The Friends of Taco association
Mrs. Christine Lalloz

Cities

Montreuil-sous-Bois, France

Document type

practice