Camille is worried this Monday, May 11, the first day of deconfinement, at the idea of resuming the metro, in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne). But when the young woman, employed in a recycling plant, arrives at 7.40 am near her station, it is not the dreaded rush. At the entrance, agents ensure that all passengers are wearing a mask, which is now compulsory in public transport throughout France.
"There are people who do not have one and are trying to return, there are not very many, but there are. We send them back, ”says a mediator. Officers sometimes have to raise their voices with stubborn people. "I searched everywhere, but I did not find any," insists a traveler. It will be niet. But once passed the control, many users remove their masks and, Monday, it was not uncommon to see trains full of unprotected passengers. For the moment, no verbalization, but after the educational phase, it will cost 135 euros to offenders.
Masked or not, as in most large cities, the residents of the Pink City have generally avoided public transport. "We noted a fairly low attendance, with a slight increase compared to what was done during confinement," says Tisséo, the Toulouse public transport company.
The crowds observed represent 20% of regular passenger traffic, or just over 50,000 trips. To meet demand while respecting the rules of social distancing, the transport offer has returned to a level almost identical to that usually offered, whether in the metro or buses.
"60% of normal traffic on a Monday"
If public transport has been abandoned, on the other hand, cars have made a comeback in the city. News that does not delight pedestrians. In the city center, passers-by sometimes had to stick together to get around the semi-pedestrian streets cluttered with cars.
However, there were no huge traffic jams. According to Jean-Michel Lattes, first assistant in charge of transport, the traffic on Monday represented only "60% of normal traffic on a Monday", he tells us, against around 25% during a large part of confinement. A still low attendance that the elected official explains by the maintenance of telework, but also by a very partial recovery in schools.
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Another surprise, when we thought that the bicycle, a means decreed as the safest and the least polluting, was going to impose itself as the new queen of bitumen, the gloomy weather showered the inclinations. In the cobbled streets, the only cyclists daring to brave the rain were there to deliver meals at home.
The city had however set up new routes "specially for deconfinement", regrets Jean-Michel Lattes. Reserved corridors which should find their users as soon as the sun starts to shine.
