Public transportation systems: Challenges and

opportunities
L3 Géographie et aménagement Semestre 5 – Anglais LV1

By Hugo Noel E220963C, Romain Godefroy E229238X ,

Niclèche Anga E24B712S, Saul Civel E227686K
Professor : Antonia Jimenez Larrain

Introduction

Nowadays, public transports are part of our society so we must know what they consist
of, their pros and cons, what they offer etc.

Because they do play a big role in everyday transportation, as a matter of fact, around
60% of people in France use public transportation regularly.

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As you may know there has been a big development concerning the public
transportation system in the last few decades. We can use the new tramway in Nantes
as an example of a development. But surely we all agree that public transportation
systems could be more developed. There are indeed some struggles about public
transportation, students like the best how frustrating it is when you miss a tramway, a
bus, a train or any type of public transport. Additionally, we live in an era where pollution
is an important matter, and where cars are used the most. For example in France 74%
of people take the car for daily travel and only 22% take public transport. This study
was made in 2022 so it is quite alarming.

It is important, before embarking on a development, to understand the history of our

subject.

Public transport was born in Paris in 1662. It was like small carriages that ran on fixed
lines, which were three in number and fixed schedules. Of course, the trips were paid.
However, the project had many flaws and therefore stopped 15 years later.

It was then in 1826, in Nantes, that Stanislas Baudry created a free transport system
where people could take a carriage to move on a fixed line, called the Omnibus. His
idea developed throughout France and is considered to be the appearance of the first
buses.

The first London Underground was introduced in 1863. New York City also had its own
London-inspired Metro in 1868. It was not until 1896 that the first metros appeared in
Paris. Then, the metro and tram developed in major cities of France. Unfortunately, the
arrival of cars will slow down public transit and favor buses that are developing a lot
during the same period. The 1950s saw a decline in public transport, as everyone
moved by car. Public transport only reappeared in the 1980s for reasons related to
climate change. Trams are therefore reappearing in cities like Nantes. Since 1980,
transport has been constantly developing around the world.

Which is why our subject is interesting. Although, to have a guiding thread, we can ask
ourselves how public transportation systems characterize our everyday lives and how
it is a stake for the future.

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In our first point we’ll see how important public transports are for the population, after
that we’ll be looking at the stakes concerning public transportation systems and we’ll
go through some examples.

I - The importance of public transports

A - Public transport, a matter of healthiness ?

Throughout the sudden growth of the population world widely, the need for public
transportation has never been so high. For a lot of people, public transport is just a
way to get from point A to point B, however it is a lot deeper than that. As a matter of
fact, public transport even affects our social lives. With lack of access to public
transportation, it would cause a social exclusion for many people. Just a number to
see how important public transportation is. In the US, in 2017 there were 10.1 billion
trips on public transportation. This number gives us an idea on how they characterize
our lives.

Older people are also heavily concerned with public transport. Because seniors can
no longer move as they wish, the development and adaptation of public transport is
essential. Some departments or municipalities offer reduced-price or even free public
transport cards for the elderly.

The cost of public transportation is also one of the main pros about it. Getting on the
bus or in a tramway is quite cheap compared to using a car for example. Which is ideal
for students or people that can't afford a car.

It may not seem like it but using public transport is also a matter of public health,
indeed, public transport encourages you to walk, use a bike, which is healthier than
going in a car. There’s also the micro displacement you make when going to your bus
stop for example and as an Harvard study over 1000 people showed that the people
who walked at least 20 min per day 5 times per week had 43% fewer sick days than
those who exercised once a week or less.

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B - The answer to a growing demand : the example of informal transports

Informal transport plays a crucial role in meeting the growing mobility needs in many
developing countries, where rapid urbanization and population growth are outpacing
the development of formal transportation systems. Informal transport refers to mobility
services that emerge to meet needs not satisfied by formal public transport. They play
a crucial role in providing essential services to millions of urban residents, particularly
in developing countries, by filling the gaps left by insufficient regulated transport
options.

Informal transport is a worldwide phenomenon that plays a vital role in the mobility of
millions of urban residents, particularly in the Global South. It provides essential
services in cities and regions at any time of the day, making urban life possible for a
large portion of the population. For that, these transport sector fills the void left by the
lack of regulated transport services in developing urban areas. Where mobility needs
are rapidly increasing due to population and economic growth, official public transport
is failing to keep pace.

Informal transport provides a means of livelihood for numerous workers who rely on
affordable transportation to make their daily commutes. In some cities like Kayseri,
Turkey, it accounts for up to 60% of the transport supply, and this figure can reach 90%
in many African cities. Thanks to its decentralized structure, it’s demonstrates great
flexibility and adaptability. It quickly adjusts to changing needs and provides a wide
range of services, from taxis to minibuses and two and three-wheelers.

However, the development of transportation in certain countries is not fast enough to

keep up with this exponential demand. Investments in public transport services and
infrastructure are insufficient. Urban planning often favors individual car use at the
expense of collective transportation. Consequently, despite its weaknesses, informal
transport remains essential to ensure the mobility of a large part of the urban population
in developing countries. It compensates, as best it can, for the shortcomings of the
official transport supply in the face of exploding demand, pending a necessary
transformation of the sector to make it more efficient and sustainable in the long term.
Finally, informal transport plays a vital role in meeting the growing mobility needs in
developing countries where formal transportation systems are struggling to keep pace

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with rapid urbanization. It fills the gaps, provides livelihoods, and demonstrates
flexibility in the face of insufficient public transport investment and car-centric urban
planning. While it has its weaknesses, informal transport remains indispensable for
now, pending a necessary transformation to make it more efficient and sustainable in
the long run. Transforming the informal transport sector requires involving citizens in a
new, better integrated, affordable, reliable and safe transport system. This complex
transformation necessitates a comprehensive understanding of mobility and the sector,
as well as political support. It involves considering the current organization and
functioning of the informal sector, defining mobility policy objectives, envisioning the
sector's future, creating a stakeholder cooperation platform, following a clear
transformation process, and establishing an appropriate regulatory and governance
framework.

C - Reduction of distances and cost

Public transport is a good way to reduce the distances between residential areas and
strategic locations, such as workplaces, educational institutions, and social amenities.

With the 'Automobile Era,' the 1970s were a period of democratization of cars for
everyone, including the wealthiest individuals and those with the lowest incomes.

Nowadays, public transportation is a good way to avoid urban congestion caused by

cars and an effective means of reducing one's carbon footprint.

This argument is put forth by cities to promote public transport since using it would
reduce our carbon footprint by more than 50%. Furthermore, the cost of car ownership
is continually increasing. In 2019, according to French economist Jean Marie
Beauvais, the estimated cost of a car for short distances, defined as less than 80
kilometers, was 27 cents per kilometer compared to only 10 cents per kilometer for
public transport. So, practically three times more expensive.

II - The stakes of public transportation system

Several issues are highlighted by public transportation around the world. The cities are
investing more and more budgets into the realization of large public transportation

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projects, whether urban, inter-urban, or on a national scale. We nevertheless notice
similar issues at the four corners of the world even if these issues are characteristic of
developed countries, because yes, these dynamics differ depending on the cultures
and wealth of the countries.

A - A budget and an interest in constant growth

Worldwide, the budget allocated to public transportation has increased to reach 1.7
trillion dollars in 2021.

In France, the budget allocated to public transportation increased by 1.2% between

2000 and 2010.

The example of Mexico is interesting to consider because, despite its proximity to the
United States, we do not see exactly the same approach in the deployment of public
transportation systems. Indeed, more than 68% of trips are made by public
transportation in Mexico, compared to only 20% in New York, the economic capital and
the city with the most public transportation trips in the USA.

In Mexico, the poorest populations can benefit from these services to access the
centers of major metropolises such as Mexico City.

Asia, due to its unrivaled population growth, must equip itself with transportation assets
to facilitate the movement of people from point A to point B.

The number of people using transport in Shanghai over 1 day is even higher than the
number of people using public transport throughout Europe over the same period : 12
Million passengers. This shows the colossal commitment of Asian countries in
transport.

B - Multiple issues

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Current climate issues have effectively accelerated the promotion of public transport
as an alternative to individual transport. There is therefore a strong objective of
promoting the green city that respects nature thanks to this transport [...]

But these are not the only objectives, there is also a question of population growth. As
a result, the streets are more and more congested and there is no more space. This
also causes additional pollution because cars when stationary emit even more CO².

Public transport is therefore an alternative to this congestion in cities. This is why trams
were put back into circulation in European cities between the end of the 20th century
and the beginning of the 2000s. American cities are

more recently and have developed the metro quickly, a fast and efficient means of
transport.[...]

Public transport can also accentuate urban segregation. In the capital of Jordan,
Amman, a recent bus network has been set up. Amman is a city where the richest
people live in the west and the poorest live in the east. This transport network, which
was originally intended to facilitate and shorten access to work for the inhabitants of
the city, only serves the western districts towards the city center where most of the
inhabitants have their place of work. This public transport network further isolates the
Eastern inhabitants who are being «forgotten» by this new project. Especially since
they are the most concerned by the problems of accessibility to work because the
richest already have cars or take taxis.

In Amman, the new bus network, designed to improve access to work, serves mainly
the west, where the richest live, and neglects the east, which is inhabited by the
poorest. This reinforces the exclusion of the poorest populations, yet the first affected
by mobility problems.

C - Nuances depending on the regions of the world

The public transport system is not necessarily deployed in the right way everywhere,
and this is linked to different choices depending on the regions of the world. We have

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three major regions with different dynamics. The Northern countries, Asia, and the
Southern countries[...]

Yet these are the ones that concentrate the most populations and are often
predominantly urban. The cities are sprawling and sometimes have more than 10
million inhabitants. The urban fabric must then be adapted to allow for simpler transit
of flows. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, public transport
systems are often underdeveloped or inaccessible to a large part of the population.
The networks are often inefficient, unreliable, and poorly funded. In Lagos (Nigeria),
for example, traffic jams and the lack of quality public transport result in long hours of
commuting. Conversely, cities like São Paulo in Brazil and Bogotá in Colombia have
implemented innovative initiatives, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), to improve
mobility and offer alternatives to traffic jams. Asian countries, notably China and Japan,
are examples of success in public transport. The metro networks in Beijing, Shanghai,
and Tokyo are among the most modern and most used in the world. Tokyo, for example,
manages one of the densest and most efficient metro systems, with 3.5 billion
passengers per year. Moreover, China has deployed a large number of metro lines in
its megacities, helping to reduce automobile traffic and improve urban quality of life.
However, management and infrastructure challenges remain high due to the strong
demand. In Europe, public transport systems are well-developed, with strong
integration between different modes of transport (buses, trams, trains, etc.). Cities like
Vienna, Zurich, or Copenhagen have highly efficient public transport networks, and
public transport usage is widespread. These countries also invest heavily in ecological
solutions, such as electric buses or high-speed trains. Most major European cities have
public transport usage rates of 30 to 50% of the population for urban journeys. All these
modes of transport are updated regularly, which allows European cities to have a
modern and up-to-date network and to follow the latest trends in climate considerations
thanks to electric buses.

III - The case of France

The evolution of these policies reflects economic, social and environmental

transformations. En France for several years, the French population has been

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increasingly concerned about it to promote the development of transport, with the
emergence of new means of travel that are more ecological, more economical and
more user-friendly; such as carpooling, car sharing…

A - New mobility politics since multiple years

As other means of getting around, there is also public transport (bus, tram, metro,
RER...). This public transport is adapted to the longest journeys with a speed of 50km/h
in order to promote access to transport for the population and to combat car traffic.
Indeed, the multiplication of these transports is a strategy for developing transport by
promoting the use of several modes of transport but also intermodal ones facilitating
the transition from one mode to another during the same trip. This strategy is based on
urban travel plans (PDU) created by the 1982 internal transport orientation law. Urban
travel plans have been mandatory since the 1996 law on air and the rational use of
energy for urban areas with at least 100,000 inhabitants. In addition, high-level bus
service (BHNS), coaches or transport on demand (TAD) systems have developed in
the 2000s, as a less expensive alternative to meet the expectations of medium-sized
cities or serve less dense areas. In this same perspective, Germany is working to
subordinate its planning to an efficient and adequate public transport network. Thanks
to legislative and federal measures as well as the principle of decentralized
concentration, urbanization is controlled and better localized. This phenomenon is
observed globally, with many countries adopting similar policies to promote more
sustainable mobility.

B - Thanks to new Financements

Public transport funding in France saw significant changes between 2000 and 2010.
The Commercial revenues, including fare revenues and other income, remained
relatively stable, accounting for between 14% and 18% of total annual public transport
costs throughout the period. The Transport Tax Virement played an increasingly
important role, rising steadily from 35% of total funding in 2000 to 44% in 2010. This
tax, levied on employers with more than nine employees within a given public transport

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area, became a key source of funding for urban transport authorities. The Local
authority contributions, through their own budgets, grew by 31% in real terms over the
decade, representing between 24% and 29% of overall funding. Local authorities bore
a significant share of public transport funding, particularly for investment expenditures.
On the other hand, «central government contributions» declined between 2000 and
2009, mainly due to the withdrawal of dedicated-lane transport project subsidies.
However, this trend was expected to reverse with the launch of new national funding
programs for urban transport projects. For sure, the decade saw a shift towards a
greater reliance on the Transport Tax and local authority contributions, while
commercial revenues remained stable and central government funding fluctuated. This
evolution reflects the efforts of urban transport authorities to secure sustainable funding
sources for the development and operation of public transport networks in a context of
increasing mobility needs and environmental concerns.

C - In front of the European Countries ?

The current legislative context is favorable to the deployment of solidarity mobility,

thanks to the publication of the mobility orientation law and the decree on social utility
transport.

Given the importance of the needs and to take advantage of these new legal tools, the
Macif Foundation and Cerema have decided to join forces to launch this call for
projects, intended to provide financial and technical support for the implementation of
solidarity mobility projects. This call for projects aims to encourage the improvement of
daily mobility, in particular the travel of vulnerable people who encounter difficulties in
accessing employment, services and goods and leisure activities, available nearby.

To do this, it is necessary to encourage and deploy citizen, local and innovative mobility
solutions that are specifically intended for them, such as social utility transport offers
(TUS). For these new services to be fully effective, they must be able to be part of a
global strategy to improve the daily mobility of all inhabitants of the territory. They may
also be accompanied by complementary offers, open to other audiences, which make
it possible to undertake awareness-raising and animation actions that are more global
than information actions on the future TUS ( transportation used social), and to direct
TUS beneficiaries towards other solutions when possible.

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Conclusion

To conclude we saw that the public transport system was really important for the
population, because it filled many functions that we sometimes do not think about. It is
a sector that has developed a lot in the last few decades which is great. However, we,
as the population and overall as a society, are facing many challenges and so do they
. Problems such as overcrowding, inequalities of access and climate changes are
challenges for the public transportation systems, so it is a must that we continue
developing them , otherwise the planet will continue to suffer and the inequalities or
segregation in our society will keep rising.

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