Grand Conseil: 2 billion to develop the TPG refused

Dramatic twist: Friday, the Grand Council torpedoed the service contract between the State of Geneva and Transports publics genevois (TPG)which concerns a credit of around 2 billion for the period 2025-2029.

This subsidy was to make it possible to increase the offer by 30%, particularly outside peak hours, in the evenings and weekends, and to develop the tram network. “The aim is to encourage bus travel for leisure. It is also planned to electrify the entire TPG fleet by 2030,” recalled Jacques Jeannerat (LJS) at the opening of the debates.

The contract also includes an absenteeism management program and increasing the recruitment and training capacities of driving personnel to fill the need for nearly 300 positions per year on average.

But here it is: for the SVP Michael Andersen, it is not acceptable that the subsidy takes so much lift (+60%) compared to the increase in supply (+30%). He deplores the lack of reforms of the TPG which would allow an increase in their self-financing.

Magistrate in charge of Mobility, Pierre Maudet says he is attentive to this objective, but the investments requested cannot be met by ticketing in a sector by definition unprofitable. After failing to send the object back to committee, Michael Andersen then tabled an amendment to only vote for the tranche of 325.5 million for 2025. The UDC, the MCG, the PLR ​​and the Center accepted. The amendment is adopted, but not the reduced credit.

Pierre Maudet in fact recalls that the five-year contract, emptied of its substance, requires the agreement of both parties and that it is now obsolete. We must now discuss again with the TPG. He concludes: “We have already made fools of ourselves with the recourse (editor’s note: on free admission for young people and half-price for seniors)! This is extremely damaging for the image of the Grand Conseil, for that of the management and for the services to be put in place from next year!”

In a press release, the PS immediately denounced a “scuttle” of the TPG by the right and an “irresponsible vote” at a time of climate emergency.

190 million for a school

The deputies previously accepted a credit of 190 million francs to build the Noëlla-Rouget College and School of General Culture, in Meyrin, named after this deportee and resistance fighter during the Second World War.

The project was voted on Friday in a context of overcapacity in many schools. It plans a three-story building. The project is due to start in January to accommodate 1,400 students and 300 teachers at the start of the 2029 school year. The school will be located on the edge of the satellite city of Meyrin, on Avenue Sainte-Cécile.

Only the PLR ​​refused the project in committee, in order to demonstrate a “rant”. The party would have liked a taller building so as not to “waste” the land in the villa zone, explained Jacques Béné.

“It’s the most massive school ever built. Refuse a school? It’s unheard of,” replies PS Grégoire Carrasso. This configuration is the best for the school climate and the well-being of the students, adds Verte Angèle-Marie Habiyakare. In the end, all groups vote on the credit.

Electronic voting in 2026

It was, once again, unanimously and without debate that the Grand Council accepted a credit of 3.13 million francs for the integration of the Swiss Post electronic voting system for the canton of Geneva. Operations are due to start in 2026.

In the commission report, it is specified that all the groups are convinced by the request of the Council of State and underline the “need for the democratic system to which everyone is attached to have an electronic vote which will also allow the Swiss to vote. ‘foreigner to participate in the vote’. The commission, however, insisted on the need to guarantee the security and confidentiality of the vote, and that the data remains stored in Switzerland.

“The system is designed to meet these requirements,” State Councilor Carole-Anne Kast told the “Tribune de Genève”. She specifies that Geneva is thus joining the federal project, after having had to abandon its own system several years ago. In fact, it would have been necessary to commit excessive resources to make it invulnerable to hackers.

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Armanios go has been a journalist in the Geneva section since August 2022 and covers cantonal politics in particular.More info

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