Safety, budget, reality on the ground… the headache of school transport in the Haute Vallée de l’Aude

Four kilometers to walk along the departmental road 46 which connects the small hamlet of En Bec to St-Just-et-le-Bézu. This is the path that children living in this area have to travel every day to catch the school bus.

“With cars traveling at 80 km/h, with the night lasting in this winter period. When parents can't bring them, what do we do?” The mayor of the small town in the Haute Vallée, Louis Sire, is not losing his temper. “The situation has lasted for four years. It’s untenable.”

St-Just does not tick the boxes

The elected official explains that until July 2020 the transporter responsible for school buses made the detour via St-Louis, to “don’t forget anyone”. “Even after two sections of the road were washed away by Storm Gloria, he did not forget En Bec and still made the detour to St. Louis.”

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But upon his retirement, his successor chosen by the Region refused to pass through the hamlet. And for good reason: this route is not included in his contract. “However, the road has been restored to very good condition thanks to the Department. And the former transporter found the circuit passing through the Col des Escudiés much safer because it was sunny in winter, unlike the route through the Fanges forest.”

Far from admitting defeat, Louis Sire increased his efforts with the regional services. Not without difficulty: “It took more than a year for technical services to get back to me.”

Already an exemption for Montjardin

In the Haute Vallée, the town of 50 inhabitants is far from being an isolated case. About thirty kilometers away, history repeats itself in Montjardin.

If the Region has already allocated an exceptional bus stop to this village, it no longer meets the needs of the residents. “The school transport stops in the historic heart of the village, indicates Bertrand Bargain, mayor of the town. However, this forces the children who live in the new housing estate, which is a little out of the way, to walk almost a kilometer along the departmental road.”

As in St-Just-et-le-Bézu, the road limited to 80 km/h is not safe for pedestrians. The roadside is extremely narrow, bordered by a ditch and tall grass. And at this time when the days are getting shorter, there is only one street lamp that illuminates a very small portion of the road.

It is in this lamppost that Bertrand Bargain places his hopes. “The children have to walk along this road to go to the historic center to take the bus… even though it passes right in front of the housing estate. But it would be enough to move the bus stop to under this lamppost there.”

The only source of lighting is in fact located halfway, but is also accessible via a diverted route, allowing the coaches to be turned around without risk, according to the local elected official. “This decision is unanimous in the village! There are six children in primary school, and six children who go to middle school who are in difficulty.”

A “lack of services” in rural areas

The mayor of Montjardin deplores “a lack of service” beyond the problem of school transportation. “For people who would like to use the Lio, you have to go to Chalabre! While the bus goes through Montjardin! How do you manage to travel almost 3 kilometers to take the bus when you have difficulty getting around?”

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Like him, Louis Sire deplorese “a decline in public services in small villages”. “For me, children and more broadly rural residents must benefit from the same opportunities and therefore the same infrastructure as urban residents.” Disparities which also emerge from the study carried out by the rural mayors of Aude.