On the one hand, a "mega contract" of 2.5 billion euros to renew the trains of the RER B and colossal sums necessary to build the Grand Paris Express ... On the other, a campaign for regional, where the he idea of making public transport free resurfaced.
All against the backdrop of a health crisis that weighs heavily on the finances of Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the regional authority in charge of transport.
The Paris region's public transport financing model is at a crucial turning point in its history.
Because it should be known, a user in the Paris region costs, on average, four times more than what he pays. The Paris region is distinguished by the lowest subscription costs in Europe. These moderate prices mean that the revenue from ticketing represented, before Covid, only 27% of the total of 10 billion in annual resources.
It's simple: if an Ile-de-France subscriber had to pay the real cost of his trips out of his own pocket, it would cost him around four times more than today.
And according to the principle of the single zone-free package set up six years ago, instead of spending 827.20 euros per year to travel in the five zones at full price, the 4.3 million Navigo subscribers should pay without doubt more than 3300 euros per year.
The monthly rate would suddenly drop from 75.20 euros to at least 300 euros per month.
Marne-La-Vallée - La Défense: 600 euros per month
And again, this single flat rate erases the differences in real costs between users in the Ile-de-France region.
“In the Paris region, a traveler who travels Marne la Vallée - La Défense every day in both directions actually costs around 600 euros per month.
For someone who takes the metro at 7 or 8 stations, it is much cheaper.
This is the miracle of the dezoned Navigo pass: today you have trips at very modest prices, ”explains Yves Crozet, an economist specializing in transport.
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And if the Navigo increased to save transport in Ile-de-France?
“In Paris, we can say that the metro is profitable, in the sense that the receipts of travelers cover roughly the expenses, continues the expert.
But as soon as you add RER or Transiliens, the costs become much higher than the revenue from travelers.
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A gap further accentuated by the health situation.
IDFM, which normally has a budget of 10.5 billion per year, will again show a "hole" of around one billion euros in 2021, linked to the drop in attendance, which peaks at 50% from normal, and to the economic shock of the Covid-19 crisis.
The drop in ticketing revenue is estimated to be at least 700 million euros.
As for the “mobility payment”, provided by businesses in the Ile-de-France region, it should decline and bring in 300 million less than before the crisis ...
First-payer employers
Before the arrival of the coronavirus, the financing model of the Ile-de-France transport system, the third most dense in the world with Tokyo and Seoul, seemed rather balanced.
Since the ticketing share is low, most of the financial effort actually weighs on employers, who pay a tax levy, the “mobility payment”.
This payroll tax represents 43% of the annual transport budget.
In addition, employers finance 50% of the cost of the Navigo subscription, which they pay to employees.
In total, Ile-de-France companies therefore cover 52% of the real cost of transport.
The rest of the budget is supplemented by commercial revenues (subscriptions, advertising, etc.) as well as subsidies from the State, communities and the fuel tax (TICP).
The Court of Auditors recommends an increase in tariffs
Does this funding model have a future?
Nothing is less sure.
In a recent report, the Court of Auditors recommends an increase in Navigo prices to contain the indebtedness of IDFM, which will explode in the next 10 years, as the Grand Paris Express enters service.
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It remains to imagine in what proportions.
In London, the equivalent of the Navigo all zones pass costs more than 400 euros per month!
It's hard to believe that Greater Paris will take the same path.
No regional candidate seems in any case for the time being disposed to evoke this unpopular hypothesis.
Some like Audrey Pulvar (Ile-de-France in common) even offer general free admission.
Free or chargeable, the Ile-de-France system will have to quickly find the means to cope with the colossal expenses which lie ahead, with the regeneration of the current network (starting with the RER B) and the entry into service. of the Grand Paris Express.
The future of public transport financing is the subject of national reflection. The government has entrusted deputy Philippe Duron (PS) with a parliamentary mission, responsible for proposing solutions to this thorny problem, before the summer.