266,700 people travel every day to go to work in Reunion. A number which increased by 34,800 motorists between 2010 and 2021, according to the report just published by INSEE. Saint-Denis, Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul concentrate the majority of traffic jams.
LH with Antoine Garnier and Jean-Marc Collienne
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Published on October 11, 2024 at 11:00 a.m.,
updated October 11, 2024 at 11:06 a.m.
3,200 additional cars every day on the road to work. INSEE has just made public a survey on travel between home and work of Reunion Islanders, between 2010 and 2021.
It reveals that over this period the population increased by almost 6% and with it, the number of jobs. Traffic conditions on Reunion roads during travel times between home and work have necessarily been impacted.
The number of motorists on the roads has increased by 3,200 each year during commuting hours. The 15% additional jobs created during this period are only part of the explanation.
More and more people work in a municipality other than their city of residence, explains Aurore Fleuret, statistician at INSEE. This very strong increase is notably due to the increase in qualified jobs on the island, of almost 32%.
We have more and more executives and intermediate professions on the island, with the progression in the qualification level of the Reunion population. And these professions are professions where people generally live further from their place of work, which is concentrated in employment centers.
Aurore Fleuret, statistician at INSEE
She specifies that these professions can afford to leave their municipality of residence and go live “ a little further ” to improve their quality of life, if they wish.
83% of these trips are made by car in 2021. A number increasing by 2% since 2010, to the detriment of walking, which represents 7% of trips to work, down by 3%. The use of public transport increases by 1%, and accounts for 6% of journeys. 4% of trips are made on two-wheelers, with an increase of 0.3%.
The trend should remain upward, with the rate of car ownership among Reunion households remaining lower than in France.
The three main employment areas concerned are Saint-Denis, Saint-Paul and Saint-Pierre. Half of the island’s jobs are concentrated there. In these three cities, traffic is particularly difficult in the morning and evening.
In Saint-Denis, 26,600 people arrived by car in 2021, or 3,500 more than in 2010. 16,600 cars circulate daily in the West. In 2010, 20,000 motorists entered Saint-Pierre every day. There were 24,900 in 2021.
