No trains, too few buses and young people reluctant to take their driving test: in Aisne, mobility is an entrenched problem. To try to stem it, a local mission supports young people to get used to getting around by focusing on the highway code and then the driving license.
Mobility is a key issue in the more remote areas of Aisne. A few days before the legislative elections, candidates hoping to represent these areas will necessarily have to propose solutions to this necessity. Because the figures are clear: 20% of the department’s working population has difficulty getting around. And one in two people in integration say they have refused a job or training due to a transport problem.
A telling example: the inhabitants of Guise, located a few kilometers east of Saint-Quentin. There, the train hasn’t run for fifty years and there are few buses. To get around, a car is essential, but many young people do not have a driving license. The local mission of Thiérache – which is aimed at 16-25 year olds – is mobilizing to encourage young people from the communes of Vervins, Hirson and Guise to obtain this precious sesame.
“We realize that mobility is a central theme, like access to health, training or employment” analyzes Nadège Allard, cmobility referent mission officer at the local mission. “Some have not got used to moving and stay at home: they have to be taught to move again“, pointing at her too”insufficient transport solutions“.
Last year, the local mission helped 200 young people to rethink their mobility. This year, there are already many of them: among them, Gabriel Bilbot, 18 years old. He just got the code. “I wanted to take a step forward to get work. The local mission helped motivate me a lot” he admits. Having dropped out of school, he was not enthusiastic about the idea of becoming a driver. But Nadège, who “helped a lot“, allowed him to take a first step.
Like this young adult, Marie Krawczyk was “not motivated“for the highway code and the driving license. Even if she realizes the many travel constraints, particularly for “work, go shopping, visit family“, she does not spontaneously grasp the advantages of autonomy on the road.
As with Gabriel Balbot, Nadège intervened. “She is behind us and that helps. It saved me from giving up when I made mistakes“. Support which allows him to obtain his code in September before soon starting his driving hours.
“The first obstacle is financial” recalls Nadège Allard. “There is some help but more is always needed.“To try to enhance these mobility sessions, it relies on an innovative tool: virtual reality. “We work with virtual reality headsets. Inside, there are scenarios that put young people in a position to buy a train ticket or be checked on a bus. When they then face reality, it’s much simpler” she knows. An original idea to integrate the codes of this young audience.
