From the memory of a Lyon elected official, the vote of the board of directors of Sytral Mobilités, Thursday March 28, has something “historical”. The transport union of the Lyon region has officially decided to assign operational management of its metro, buses and trams to two different operators, and thus to break with more than thirty years of Keolis monopoly. “The single operator system has gone on for too long. The community had to take back control to demand better quality of service, through competition. The signal is also to say that the metropolis of Lyon has no exclusivity, it is open to all effective proposals, in all areas. explains Bruno Bernard, president (Les Ecologistes) of the metropolis of Lyon and president of Sytral Mobilités.
By comparing previous markets, the elected official is convinced that the opening to competition has made it possible to reduce the overall cost of renewing the concession by around 30 million euros per year. The Lyon network, the largest after Paris, provides an average of 2 million trips per day, all modes combined. In this unprecedented allotment operation, inspired by other European examples in Sweden and Finland, the Lyon transport authority has taken over the management of relations with users, through the creation of a local public company ( SPL) which will be responsible for ticketing, marketing and information.
The transport authority has therefore awarded the lot of its heavy modes of travel to RATP Dev, a subsidiary of the RATP group. This contract includes the management of four metro lines, seven tram lines and two funiculars, not forgetting the Rhônexpress line to Saint-Exupéry airport, for a total amount of 2.025 billion euros. The contract, lasting ten years, provides for penalties payable by the operator of up to 7.5 million euros per year in the event of repeated failures beyond defined thresholds, and conversely grants bonuses if improvement targets are exceeded. This bonus/malus system did not exist in previous public markets. It can reach 12.5 million euros per year for the bus lot, which includes 130 lines. This bus and trolleybus operating contract was awarded to Keolis, 70% owned by SNCF, for an amount of 1.613 billion euros, over a period of six years.
A “social base”
During the 145 negotiation meetings with the two operators, Sytral Mobilités imposed in the contracts the full maintenance of the social benefits of all 4,600 employees of the Transports en commun Lyonnais (TCL) brand, who will integrate one or the other of the transport groups. This allows Matthieu Vieira, elected official (Les Ecologistes) of the metropolis who co-chaired the allotment steering committee, to establish Lyon transport as ” example “. TCL agents benefit from advantages intended to make the profession attractive, in a tense period in terms of recruitment.
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