with these new vehicles, the RATP wants to bring users back to the bus

Shorten to fill better. This is how Île-de-France Mobilité (IDFM) wants to get users back on the buses. Like line 66, which crosses the 17th connecting Opéra to Saint-Ouen, the vehicles of line 40, 85 and 193 have been remodeled to fit traffic, street size and other road users.

“Today, congested speed is not good in Paris,” notes Delphine Bürkli, mayor of the 9th arrondissement and administrator of IDFM. The slowness of buses is often pointed out by users who have deserted them for several years. Attendance decreased by 33% between 2018 and 2023. They are turning to the metro or even walking, considered more reliable. With 22 new vehicles, 15 of which are intended for line 66, IDFM and RATP also hope to offer a reliable alternative to lines 13 and 14 of the metro. The new templates, smaller and narrower by 15 cm, will allow these “midi-buses” to bypass obstacles and sneak through the streets without wasting time at each turn.

The end of accordion buses

“The starting point was the pedestrianization of Place Richard Baretwhich no longer allowed standard buses to pass in front of the town hall and serve the heart of Batignolles”, also indicates Thibault Fournier, responsible for the bus offer at Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM). Since 2020, line 66 had been diverted because it could no longer take narrow streets like that of Condamine. Its low occupancy rate of 33% has also enabled a reduction in the size of its vehicles, going from 70 to 50 places.

Incidentally, the mirrors have been modified to remove the imposing mirrors. Now the driver no longer needs to turn his head. “These are two cameras installed on each side of the vehicle with two feedback screens for the driver. They give the same visibility day and night, in good weather as in rain or fog,” explains Jérémy Olivier, head of the Energy Transition department at IDFM.

For a cost of 180,000 euros per bus, IDFM invests a total of nearly 4.5 billion euros for the reconversion of its fleet since 2020. “The accordion buses are over. Now, they adapt to the city and allow better sharing of public space,” explains Delphine Bürkli. Before adding: “In recent years, the city's developments have not taken into account public transport […]. A stuck bus also means people behind it who are stuck, getting angry and honking their horns. »

In addition to their slimmer sizes, the new vehicles are also intended to be quieter. Their electric motor limits noise pollution as much as air pollution. As a reminder, all bus lines must be non-polluting before the end of the year. Within four years, the entire Île-de-France must be affected by this green shift.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.