Organisation and financing of Public Transport in France

Chantal Duchène, Director General, Groupement des Autorités Responsables

de Transport (GART), France

Groupement des Autorités Responsables de Transport (GART)

(French Association of Public Transport Authorities)

• Founded : 1980

• Status : Non profit organization

• Membership : 254 public transport authorities : cities, departements and regions

• Goals : To represent public transport authorities and promote public transportation and mobility management.

1- Current organisational structure in France

Function of State

• Regulation of transport activities : access to the operator trade

• Responsible for the observation: it acts with GART and the association of public transport operators to make a survey and publish figures and ratios about public transport in France

Public transport authorities

Outside of the Ile-de-France (Paris and its région)

Role of urban local authorities :• management of mobility : over 100,000 inhabitants Plans de

Déplacements Urbains (urban mobility plans) are obligatory• transport policy : service characteristics, fare levels, information

structures, operating modes • choice of operating themselves or calling for tenders modes of

organisation for public transport (defining and choice of the operators) • management of transport infrastructure and equipment.

Role of departements• same that urban local authorities for non urban road public transit• act mainly for school transport

Role of regions• responsible for organising rail and road transport structures of

regional interest : level of regional passenger transport, with particular emphasis on the locations served, fare levels, service quality and passenger information

• Have to contract for rail service with SNCF, the french national public operator

In the Ile-de-France region (Paris and its région)

• Public transport authority Syndicat des Transports d’Ile-de-France – STIF, formed by Ile-de-France région, départements and city of Paris

• STIF define transport policy : service characteristics, fare levels, information structures, operating modes

• No call for tenders : has to change after the european regulation

• 2 major public companies (RATP and SNCF) and around 100 other companies outside Paris

2 – Contractual relationships between local authorities and operators outside Ile-de-France

90 % public transport authorities call for tenders

The type of contract for urban transport networks in 2003(total delegated management outside Ile-de-France)

Net Cost60%

Gross Cost28%

Concession2%

Management contracts

10%

Furthermore, the contracts must specify in particular:

• Level of service quality

• Cost with more and more often bonus/malus system

• Duration : 5 to 10 years ; depend of the property of rolling stock (generally property of local authorities for urban transport and of operators for non urban transport)

The minimum rules applicable to all contracts

French law defines the minimum rules applicable to all contracts. They must specify:

• the duration of the contract,

• the general structure of the service (networks of lines, positions of stops, frequency of services, vehicles used),

• the operating conditions of the services (the timetable),

• the fares to be paid by the passengers,

• the financing conditions of the urban transport service: remuneration of the operator and financing of the investment (equipment and installations),

• the procedures for controlling the use of funds provided or guaranteed by the public transport authority.

The duration of the delegation must be limited in time. The contract cannot be extended, except:

• for reasons in the general public interest (and for no more than one year),

• when the assignee is obliged, in order to carry out the public service efficiently or to extend its geographic area, to make material investments at the demand of the public transport authority not mentioned in the original contract that modify the overall financial framework and which cannot be amortised throughout the remaining period of the contract without excessive price increases.

The law also stipulates that each year, before June 1st, the delegate must produce a report, including the accounts, reflecting all activities, an analysis of service quality and an appendix to allow the public transport authority to assess the conditions of performance of the public service.

3- Financing of public transport in conurbations

Distribution of sources of urban public transport financing in 2003 (outside Ile-de-France and not including loans)

Total own funds : 4 456 millions euros

Local authorities31%

State3% Fares

20%

Transport tax46%Source : annual enquiry into

urban public transport (CERTU-DTT-GART-UTP)

Transport tax rates

Territorial area Maximum rate

Ile-de-France: Paris, Hauts-de-Seine 2.6 %

Ile-de-France: Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne 1.7 %

Ile-de-France: Essonne, Seine-et-Marne, Val-d’Oise, Yvelines 1.4 %

Outside Ile-de-France: Conurbations > 100 000 inhabitants that have decided to construct a public transport infrastructure and whose dossiers have been examined by the State

1.75%

Outside Ile-de-France: Conurbations > 100,000 inhabitants 1%

Outside Ile-de-France: Conurbations between 10,000* and 100,000 inhabitants

0.55%

Outside Ile-de-France: Supplement for the communities that have also formed a group for other tasks

0.05%

Changes to sources of financing (not including loans and outside of IDF) for urban public transport from 1997 to 2003 in millions of euros 2003

926 945 956 911 871 879 945

1 604 1 681 1 766 1 791 1 835 1 901 2 008

1 041 1 056 1 226 1 328 1 286 1 408

1 060

183 114

82 107 161 248

129

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Revenue Generated Transport Tax Local Autorithies State

4 4564 1734 2254 210

+ 4,4% + 0,4% -1,2%

-0,9%

+ 3,6%

-3,1%

-37,6%

-7,0%

+ 2,5%

+8,3%

-26%

-1,1%

+1,4%

+16,2%

+53,4%

Source: Annual enquiry into urban public transport (CERTU-DTT-GART-UTP )

3 9383 774

+30,6%+50,7%

-1,8%+1,4%

+4,8% +5,0%

+2,1% +1,1%

+ 6,9%+ 2,8%

3 671

+ 6,8%

+ 12,8%

+ 9,4%

+ 5,6%

+ 4,6%

Sources of financing (not including loans) for urban public transportin 2003, m illion euro, according to the s ize of the netw ork

650

192

1415

427

1112

201

69166

96

120

7

2

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Right-of -Way Conurbation Conurbation over 100,000inhab.

Conurbation less than 100,000inhab.

State

Local authorities

Transport tax

Revenue generated

Source : annuel enquiry into urban public transport (CERTU-DTT-GART-UTP)182 netw orks

3 296

827

333

Operating cost per k ilom eter in 2003, according to the s ize of the netw ork, in euroAverage for all netw orks : 4,2€

3,2

2,5

0,5

5,0

3,43,0

7,4

4,8

7

0,0

1,0

2,0

3,0

4,0

5,0

6,0

7,0

8,0

Right-of -Way Conurbation Conurbation over 100,000 inhab. Conurbation less than 100,000 inhab.

Minimum Average MaximumSource : annuel enquiry into urban public transport (CERTU-DTT-GART-UTP)

Operating cost per journey in 2003, according to the s ize of the netw ork, in €Average for all netw orks : 1,3€

0,9 0,9

0,2

1,2 1,4 1,6

2,63

7,2

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Right-of -Way Conurbation Conurbation over 100,000 inhab. Conurbation less than 100,000 inhab.

Minimum Average MaximumSource : annuel enquiry into urban public transport (CERTU-DTT-GART-UTP)182 Netw orks

Financing of public transport in the Ile-de-France region in 2003

Sources of financing operating in Ile de France in 2003 (6440 million €)

27%

9%

37%

11%

4%8% 4%

Users Employer Transport tax State Region Departements Others

Source STIF

Sources of financing investment in Ile de France in 2003 (1180 million €)

58%

5%

6%

26%

5%

Operators STIF State Region Departements

Source STIF