04 Mobility
A complementary range of solutions Un ensemble de solutions complémentaires
Integrated transport options at the city railway station. Des solutions de transport intégrées près de la gare.
Only by integrating all modes of transport, and working with its neighbours, can sustainable mobility in the capital city be guaranteed. Ce n’est qu’en intégrant tous les modes de transport et en collaborant avec nos voisins que nous pourrons garantir une mobilité durable dans la capitale. N Duncan Roberts O david laurent / Wide
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hile all the talk about solving traffic problems in Luxembourg City has been focused on the tram project, the Ville de Luxembourg has been busy developing a global transport plan. François Bausch, deputy mayor in charge of mobility, says that one of the aims of the city’s global transport concept is to reduce the amount of unnecessary traffic in the city centre. That means ensuring that the cross-country buses that bring commuters to Luxembourg terminate their route at the edge of the city centre. “We will only make the city centre attractive if we reduce the number of buses that pass along the avenue de la Liberté,” he says. To this end the planned peripheral railway stations at Cessange and Howald will serve as major junctions at which commuters from outside the capital can change from their train or bus onto the city’s integrated public transport system – which by that stage will include the tram.
Network backbone The tram itself is, after all, not being built solely for the city, but will improve mobility for the greater region. Future plans will see an extension of the tram network to Bertrange and Strassen, Howald and Hesperange and even eastwards towards Findel and Niederanven. “The idea of the tram is more than just one route through the city centre,” says Bausch. “That route is the back-
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bone of what will be a whole network. The plans that have been made public so far are just the beginning.” But even though he is enthusiastic about the project, the deputy mayor does not see the tram as a cure-all, a magic pill that will cure the city’s transport problems. “We will only solve traffic problems by delivering a complementary range of transport solutions that incorporates tram, bus and train passengers, cyclists, pedestrians and private car users.” Yes, even though the city is clearly prioritising public transport and cycling and walking, it fully acknowledges that some people have no choice but to use a car.
Plan ahead Nevertheless, the city also aims to encourage more people to use public transport. Bausch says that quality and service must be exceptional and communication improved. That means more bus lanes allowing the free flow of bus traffic and getting away from the image of the bus as a means of transport whereby passengers are squeezed in like sardines. Information is also crucial, and the city is in the final stages of preparing a multi-media system, to be installed next year, that will provide a much improved service to passengers. Bausch would also like to see more positive communication used to promote public transport, which is what made the velóH!, public bike hire system so successful.
It is a real challenge to change the mindset of a whole generation that has grown up thinking that the car is king. Bausch does not want to demonise the private automobile and he points out that there are positive aspects of using a car, such as the freedom it offers. But 40% of journeys made within the city are less than 3km, which is hardly conducive to using a car. “It is much easier to walk, cycle or hop on a bus. The aim must be to encourage people to really think ahead as to how they will move about during the day, and get them to use a combination of the services on offer rather than simply jump into their car each morning as a reflex.” The city also has plans to create a Communauté Urbaine des Transports with its neighbouring communes. Similar cooperative agreements have been proven to work in France and in Luxembourg it would allow the communes to organise all public transport together with the state. The city’s public bike hire scheme, velóH!, is already proving to be a pioneer in this effort, with the communes of Strassen and Hesperange showing interest in expanding the system into their territories. But it is not just in terms of infrastructure that cooperation between the communes makes sense. “If we want to finance the whole system, we can only do so if we tackle the project together,” says François Bausch. Q
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