These departments least served by public transport

In a study published this Tuesday, November 26, UFC-Que Choisir highlights four departments poorly served by public transport in France. Among them, three are in Occitanie: Lot, Lozère and Gers appear to be the most poorly served, leaving many citizens without an alternative to the car.

A recent study by UFC-Que Choisir, published this Tuesday, November 26, highlights profound inequalities in access to public transport in France. The departments of Lot, Lozère, Gers and Dordogne appear to be the most poorly served. Indeed, the association revealed the results of an in-depth analysis of access to public transport in France. Around 10 million French people, or 17% of the metropolitan population, live in white areas where no public transport is accessible within 10 minutes on foot. This observation is particularly striking in certain rural areas, where the inaccessibility rate exceeds 60%, such as in the departments of Gers, Dordogne, Lozère and Lot.

Rural departments less served by transport

The study shows that 32% of French municipalities have no public transport stops. The situation is even more critical in small towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants, where 45% of them are not served. Rural departments like Lozère and Gers are the perfect example of this gap with largely insufficient infrastructure.. Conversely, large metropolises like Paris or Lyon benefit from dense coverage and an efficient network, further widening the gap between urban and rural areas.

At the national level, the absence of nearby stations is also a major problem: 85% of French people do not have a station accessible on foot in less than 10 minutes. In rural areas, this inaccessibility to rail transport forces residents to become highly dependent on the car. Intermodality, which could combine the use of bicycles with rail transport, also remains underexploited, according to the association. More than half of the French population (53%) is more than 10 minutes by bike from a station, due to a lack of suitable facilities.