French Approach to Blending Light Rail and Complete Streets
French urban design principles emphasize integrating light rail with complete streets for enhanced accessibility and sustainability. This approach involves developing a network of light rail lines, ensuring fully accessible stops, and redesigning public rights-of-way to prioritize transit, pedestrians, and cyclists. By focusing on both macro and micro design aspects, France successfully implements green transit solutions on a large scale, promoting total accessibility and connectivity across urban areas.
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COMPLETE STREETS: FROM POLICY TO IMPLEMENTATION How the French Blend Light Rail and Complete Streets for Total Accessibility Presented at Rail~Volution Minneapolis, 22 September 2014 Greg Thompson . Tom Larwin . Tom Parkinson Transportation Research Board Subcommittee on International Light Rail Development glthompson@fsu.edu larconsult@yahoo.com tep@telus.net
Implementing Green Transit/Complete Streets on an Unprecedented Scale
Defining the French Approach: the Macro View MACRO Design Principle 1: Develop a a concept of how public transport should tie the urban agglomeration together: a small number of light rail (nouveau tram) lines is key MACRO Design Principle 2: High-performance and -capacity vehicles designed to blend with the urban fabric and facilitate accessibility between lines and modes MACRO Design Principle 3: Fully accessible stops widely spaced MACRO Design Principle 4: Stops adjacent to ,and integrated with major destinations; including in suburbs MACRO Design Principle 5: Bus lines reconfigured around nouveau tram stations
The Micro Design Side of the French Approach: the Art of Insertion Almost 100% use of public rights-of-way At the expense of the auto, which are kept off tracks Examples: Roads, alleys, plazas, university campuses, hospital campuses All rights-of-way rebuilt from building fa ade to building fa ade to facilitate transit performance, pedestrian and bicycle flow, safety, aesthetics The Art of Insertion is a political process wherein stakeholder groups figure out how to design high performance transit that is compatible with their lifestyles
MACRO Design Principle 1: A Regional Core of Light Rail Lines University Mall Big box district Industrial district High rise offices Malls and big box stores Intercity rail University hospital complex Center City Medical complex
Macro Design Principle 2: Long vehicles with lots of doors and a fare system that allows passengers to use all doors, bright, cheery, airy
Macro Design Principle 3: Fully accessible stops spaced widely to enable faster service
Macro Design Principle 4: Stops adjacent to major destinations; many in suburbs
Macro Design Principle 5: Bus system reconfigured around light rail stops
Insertion: Stop shoe-horned into tight spot 17 12 Oct 2012 - GLT
Insertion: Stopping trains delay autos; not vice versa 18 12 Oct 2012 - GLT
Insertion: Outer suburb of single family homes
Insertion: Suburban university campus (Orleans)
Summary: Macro concepts of quality transit combined with The Art of Insertion result in complete streets that truly change travel behavior Insertion of high quality transit into urban and suburban fabric: an art combining: Transit planning and engineering Traffic engineering Safety analysis Aesthetics and urban design Politics To achieve the results you have seen 26
Thank you Merci! Waiting for the tram, Strasbourg 2011 TP 27 of 14
Growth of French Tramwayskilometres of route Prior French practice was rubber-tired metro for large cities: Paris, Lyon, Marseille. Rubber-tired light metro (Siemens VAL) for medium cities: Lille, Base chart from The Transport Politic, Yonah Freemark 2012 Rennes, Toulouse. Then the lower cost tramway appeared. Remarkable growth, particularly from 2000; there is no distinction between tramways (streetcars) and light rail in France, more a combination of features. Tram-trains are not covered here but are gaining ground with dual-system vehicles capable of over 100km/h 750 volts plus 1.5V DC or 25kV AC or diesel 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 28 of 14
Some results Nice Bordeaux Montpellier Grenoble Strasbourg Average Rouen Le Mans . St-Etienne Angers Reims Orl ans Rides per day per kilometre of route FTA 2010 data probable underestimate due to double count of some route miles Valenciennes US average 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10,000 Buses and trams are closely integrated with free transfers. Ridership increase is typically 30 60%. Montpellier went from 28.8m/year on the all bus system in1999, to 62.2m in 2010 with 5 routes, an 150% increase. 29 of 14
LRT Farebox Recovery as percent of Direct Operating costs Strasbourg St.Etienne Lille Lyon Grenoble Average Toulouse Orleans Marseille Paris Nantes US Average 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Despite moderate fares and frequent service with union (syndicat) drivers, average farebox recovery at 48% is good, particularly given that on some systems heavily discounted students make up over half the riders. Alignments may often seem convoluted but ensure that universities, schools and other major generators hospitals and railway stations are well connected. 30 of 14
Bordeaux with APS Capital Costs Despite the economies of scale from city to city: joint orders for vehicles, use of public land and easements, and minimising line poles (25% of spans in Brest are attached to buildings), French tramways are comparable or slightly more expensive than other European systems although allowance should be made for the 15-25% of project costs that are spent on the urban environment and any APS. The average of eleven recent French systems is US$ 29m/km, range $20.4 $51.2 The average of seven recent US systems is US$ 35m/km, range $28.6 $43.5 Excludes systems, such as Seattle, with tunnels or other high infrastructure costs; =US$1.3 31 of 14
Circulator Streetcar vs bus performance 2011
France like U.S. in auto ownership and big box retailing University Press, 2008, p. 4. The following table is copied from David W. Jones, Mass Motorization + Mass Transit, Indiana . Table 1.1 Intensity of motorization in G-7 nations in 2000 Motor vehicles per 1000 population (a) Motor vehicles per worker (b) Vehicle km. per capita ( c ) Motor vehicle CO2 per capita (d) United States Canada Japan Italy Germany France United Kingdom G-7 average Source: (a) Vehicle registrations: Ward's Motor Vehicles Facts and Figures, 2002; population data for all series: Maddison, World Economy: Historical Statistics; (b) Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2002, "Comparative Labor Force Statistics, Ten Countries, 1959-2001"; (c) Highway Statistics 2002, table IN-4, "Vehicle Travel for Selected Countries"; (d) International Energy Agency, CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, 1971-2000, country tables, II.143ff. 784 676 651 626 576 574 511 625 1.58 1.43 1.30 1.73 1.29 1.44 1.10 1.41 15,618 10,831 5,976 6,274 7,126 8,778 7,662 8,895 5,202 3,741 1,762 1,917 2,067 2,153 1,933 2,682 34
SUMMARY OF FRENCH TRAMWAYS Urban area Population Angers Aubagne Avignon Besancon Bordeaux Brest Caen Clermont-Ferrand Dijon Grenoble Le Havre Le Mans Lille 1,100,000 Limoges Lyon 1,760,000 Marseille 1,530,000 Montpellier Mulhouse Nancy Nantes Nice N mes Orl ans Paris (region) 11,800,000 Reims Rennes Rouen St. Etienne Strasbourg Toulouse 1,100,000 Tours Valenciennes 33 cities; 29 tramway systems; 57 tramway lines Tom Parkinson Dec 2013, modif STRMTG-Certu Jan 2014 Lines in service/under construction all modes Tram- way Train 1 /1 -/2 -/2 -/1 3 /1 0/1 1-Jan 0/3 Tram Pax/Day* Metro VAL 35,000 new new new 74 192,000 20 33,000 24 45,000 26 48,000 33 70,000 89 210,000 22 new 26 48,000 24 34,000 40 n/a 103 250,000 26 50,000 83 282,000 39 60,000 25 n/a 91 274,000 28 90,000 7,000 43 67,000 205 450,000 18 45,000 38 n/a 28 65,000 35 82,000 94 243,000 24 20,000 21 new 21 28,000 Totals Tram- Tram w/ Tires Trolley- bus City/Region Open 2011 2014 2016 2015 2003 2012 2002 2006 2012 1987 2012 2007 1909 1942 2000 2007 2000 2006 2001 1985 2007 2012 2000 1992 2011 2002 1994 1981 1994 2010 2013 2006 Km Miles Cars 12.3 7.4 9.0 5.4 12.6 7.6 14.5 8.7 43.4 26.0 14.3 8.6 15.7 9.4 16.3 9.8 20.0 12.0 36.4 36.4 13.0 7.8 15.4 9.2 22.4 13.4 32.5 19.5 72.1 43.3 11.5 6.9 54.4 32.6 19.0 11.4 11.4 6.8 42.1 25.3 8.7 5.2 6.0 3.6 29.2 17.5 71.0 42.6 11.2 6.7 9.4 5.6 15.1 9.1 18.9 11.3 57.2 34.3 10.9 6.5 15.3 9.2 18.3 11.0 BRT NOTES 216,000 100,000 180,000 140,000 835,000 201,000 198,000 260,000 250,000 530,000 244,000 208,000 17 8 24 19 Line B opens 2020 Line 1 opens 2014, line 2 in 2019 line opens 2016 lowest capital cost/km extensions and tram/train planned Cross city line with two branches Converting to steel wheel tramway + a new line Translohr system 2 1 2 4/1 2 1/1 2 2nd line opens in 2015 Retains original metre gauge 2 139,000 5 8 4 2 4 2 2 TT = Rh nexpress tram-train to airport + rapid tram (on same tracks) project : extension, not a new line 384,000 250,000 105,000 585,000 350,000 4/1 3 1 41km with TT Bombardier GLT with double wire overhead TT opens 2014 2nd line to open in 2016 line tramway opens 2018 1 3 '0/1 1 1 /1 0/1 2 5/1 2 1 269,000 14 1 1/1 41640 2 Lines 3a and 3b counted separately Cross city line with two branches 210,000 220,000 530,000 370,000 450,000 1/1 2 3 6 3 optically guided busway TEOR, 69 cars, 55,3 km Retains original metre gauge 1 2 1/1 1 1/1 Tram now feeder to VAL--will extend to CBD 300,000 334,000 20 1/6 29/57 5/2 41644 14 7 Many lines cross through the city centre and could be categorised as two lines Has section(s) without overhead using APS 3rd rail alimentation par le sol (batteries in Nice) 11.2 km Line T7 (Villejuif-Loius Aragon) opened Nov 16, 2013; not included in totals *Patronage figures do not reflect line openings after 2011 Population and line length data from various sources is not always consistent Main reference--Les tramways francais en 2012, Connaissance du rail
