Uunenviable first place and social networks that are on fire. Bordeaux is named the most congested French city in the 2024 “Traffic index” from TomTom, a company specializing in navigation data. A motorist takes on average 31 minutes and 8 seconds to travel 10 kilometers, or a speed of 19.3 km/h. In total for the year, he spent some 113 hours in traffic jams last year.
Is the cup full? A few more figures: Bordeaux is doing worse than Paris (28 min 53 sec for 10 kilometers), the two cities operating in a crossover here since the capital is ahead of Bordeaux in 2023. Followed by Marseille (27 min 14 sec), Nice (25 min 29 dry) and Nantes (25 min 6 sec). In the ranking of 500 major cities in the world established by TomTom, Bordeaux ranks 24th.e world rank, between Hiroshima and New York, excuse me. The podium is occupied by Barranquilla, in Colombia (36 minutes for 10 kilometers), and two Indian cities, Calcutta and Bangalore.
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The opposition gets involved
Last lesson, perhaps the most palpable: last year, a motorist had to spend 33% more time during rush hours compared to the travel time “in optimal condition”. A “congestion level”, according to TomTom terminology which also places Bordeaux at the top of French cities. The Bordeaux opposition was quick to make its comment, as scathing as it was perfidious. Selected pieces: “In four years, automobile traffic which was supposed to ‘evaporate’ in Bordeaux, according to Pierre Hurmic’s deputy, ended up ‘condensing'”, pings on the X network ( ex-Twitter) the Renouveau group led by Thomas Cazenave on X.
The new TomTom methodology
Far from the image of the good old GPS with a suction cup stuck to the windshield, TomTom is a manufacturer of navigation systems integrated into the car, on-board GPS by a number of car manufacturers. The company also powers traffic applications for mobile phones, such as Apple. A substantial critical mass which feeds this annual traffic index. However, the figures should be taken with a pinch of salt: the ranking defines “city centers” and “urban areas” in 500 cities around the world. The “city center” designated here does not quite overlap with the Bordeaux hyper-center but, according to a new methodology, an area which accounts for “20% of daily trips throughout the entire agglomeration” and integrates the fringes of the cities of the first crown. “A statistical threshold which best corresponds to most urban centers”, says TomTom.
“This catastrophic ranking for our daily life and our economy is the result of the (de)mobility policy in accordance with the degrowth project carried by Pierre Hurmic, mayor of Bordeaux”, reacts in a press release Fabien Robert, municipal councilor (Modem) of ‘opposition. “These traffic jams have a considerable economic cost, they demoralize many of our fellow citizens and discourage new residents from settling in our city. » And the former deputy of Alain Juppé called for the “implementation of a real mobility plan adapted to our challenges, using capacity means such as the tram or the metro, and to move away from the ecological doctrine withdrawal into oneself. »
Starting “handicap”
If the level of congestion noted by TomTom in the city center, or more precisely in the center of the urban area (see box), puts Bordeaux in the lead, it “leaves with a handicap”, warns Vincent Martinier, spokesperson from TomTom: “The city center is also the slowest even when there is no traffic jam. There is no structural network that allows us to travel at a speed sustained by nature,” he observes. A prerequisite which brings grist to Fabien Robert’s mill, when he puts the metro in the balance. This is nothing new: for years, Bordeaux has held the top spots in the TomTom rankings. In 2018, its congestion level already reached 32%.
“The city center is also the slowest even when there is no traffic jam”
And, looking more closely, last year, the travel time over 10 kilometers remained stable, better still, the annual total spent in traffic jams amounted to 113 hours, down by two hours. Paradoxically, if the spotlight is on Bordeaux, it is because of TomTom’s new methodology, which would have already placed Bordeaux in the lead in 2023, and the good performance of Paris despite hosting the Olympic Games and the passage of the ring road at 50 km/h, notes TomTom. The average congestion level, which reached 39% in 2019, stood at 30% last year. From there to seeing it as a consequence of the asserted anti-car policy of Mayor Anne Hidalgo, there is only one step and Didier Jeanjean does not completely refuse to do so.
“Positive effect”
“The reduction in speed is almost something we are demanding,” reacts the deputy mayor of Bordeaux, in charge of nature in the city and peaceful neighborhoods. “That’s what people ask us at neighborhood meetings. Again this week, I was asked to put a stop sign near the course of the Marne. » The devastating effect of the label first bottled city does not escape him: “We have the impression that Bordeaux is the worst city in France”, he concedes, while brandishing the latest figures from the Bordeaux Métropole barometer from January to September 2024: intra-boulevard traffic down 2%, + 4% cyclists and + 8% public transport.
“There is a positive effect of our policies that the ranking does not explain: the virtuous alternatives, the drop in pollution, the “streets for children” operation during rush hours for two thirds of schools, the boulevards reduced to two lanes, the largest pedestrian sector in France,” lists Didier Jeanjean. “At a constant level of road availability, that means that evaporation is taking place,” he points out to Thomas Cazenave.
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