Between 4 and 5 June, the European Club of Intermodal Regions and Cities was in France’s Île-de-France region to explore, among other things, the various measures that have been introduced to develop intermodality in RER and train stations.
Portraying the Île-de-France public transport network as a model of intermodality would no doubt raise eyebrows among daily users of some of its bus, metro and RER lines.
Although frequent travellers would be forced to admit that they profit from a well-connected network, several different mobility options and an efficient, integrated ticketing system, they would surely point out a number of problems. For example, congestion remains an issue on certain metro and RER lines during peak hours (e.g. metro line 13, RER A), while some metro stations are plagued by seemingly endless transit corridors, and it is often difficult to travel between suburbs.
Nevertheless, the European Club of Intermodal Regions and Cities selected the Paris region for a study visit between 4 and 5 June. The club, which was created by the Intermodes congress (an annual convention on intermodality), was established to organise regular visits to European cities which set an example in terms of intermodality.
The answer is simple: while the launch of the New Greater Paris project figured as a motivation, as did the fact that France will host the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-21) in November and December, the main reason behind the choice was the major programme of network renovations initiated several years ago by the Paris region’s mobility stakeholders. The main efforts to improve intermodality have focused on train stations, with the aim of transforming them into real multimodal hubs.
Around 20 participants thus headed to the French capital to learn more about the strategy adopted by the region’s public transport authority, the Syndicat des transports d’Île-de-France (STIF). They were also able to discover several examples of successfully developed multimodal hubs.