Laurent Murcia, FO union representative at TAM, warns of the lack of strengthening of the transport offer and the deterioration of working conditions for tram and bus drivers since the launch of free transport in the metropolis of Montpellier.
What assessment do drivers draw from the free system introduced a year ago in the metropolis?
All the lights are red. Except the passenger charge. It is a success with 150,000 more travelers per day. We transport 480,000 to 500,000 people compared to 320,000 in 2019. This represents an increase of 38%. It's going to get even stronger.
You say that the offer has not been strengthened. The new trains will however enter service in 2025…
The first trains will arrive in March, two per month, but we have to assemble them, certify them and train ourselves. We will start putting the new CAF trains on the extension of line 1 South of France at the end of 2025. We have proposed solutions such as reducing the interval from 6 to 5 minutes, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., all week. In the evening, from 7 p.m., the cadence increases to 10 or 12 minutes. We are able to do it today at TAM.
So why is this not implemented?
They tell us it costs. When you make it free, normally there shouldn't be any money problems.
You denounce the deterioration of your working conditions, what are the most critical points?
Incivility will explode in 2024. Drivers suffer on a daily basis. But we are not heard. The job was already difficult but when you add 150,000 people per day for free and without strengthening the offer. We have difficulty doing maintenance. Driving pays the high price of being free.
Do you have figures on attacks and how many withdrawal rights have you exercised?
No, but we have insults every day with service stoppages. We exercised a single right of withdrawal in 2024 after physical attacks on a driver. Our windshield is being smashed. Verbal attacks are a daily occurrence for drivers. I carry out a public service mission, such as in schools, in the prefecture or in hospitals, I do not want to be insulted.
In your opinion, the Metropolitan Transport Police is not enough to maintain order?
We have been told for three years that it will be complete but that is not yet the case. They do not follow the schedules validated by the metropolitan council since they are not sufficient. We are more in the social dialogue at TAM but it will be more and more complicated if they do nothing. We have lots of plans to screw everything up, it's up to them. We went on strike on December 10 but if we had pressed we would have blocked the entire network. The schedule is exceptional next year: you are planning a great strike at Fise, the extension of line 1 or line 5. I hope it will be resolved. The strike is the last resort but we have been warning for months and months.
You have sent a formal notice to the Metropolis regarding the ZFE. For what ?
We can no longer come to work with our Crit'Air 3 vehicles. I come from Ganges, it's too expensive to stay in Montpellier. We have calculated that around 10% of TAM employees drive a Crit'Air 3 car. We are requesting an exemption for the employees concerned. When we finish at midnight, we can't take public transport home. If we do not obtain a favorable response, we will refer the matter to the administrative court for summary proceedings.
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