• The metropolis of Lille will launch, in April, an experiment to reward motorists who agree to abandon their car at rush hour.
  • The aim is to change travel habits and reduce recurring traffic jams around Lille.
  • Already tested in the Netherlands and Boulogne-Billancourt, the device has not been renewed.

Try to relieve congestion on the highway during rush hour. The metropolis of Lille will launch, from April, an experiment to reward motorists who agree to abandon their car on the A1 (Paris-Lille) and A23 (Valenciennes-Lille) motorways between 7am and 9am and between 16.30pm and 18.30pm. The aim is to change travel habits and reduce recurring traffic jams around Lille. Will the system be effective?

A simple principle: leave the car in the garage

The Ecobonus program – that's its name – works like a toll in reverse. Motorists who refrain from using their vehicle during rush hour are rewarded with €2 per trip avoided, i.e. €4 per day and €80 per month, if the volunteer driver is diligent. The metropolis of Lille hopes to recruit 5,000 volunteers for this experiment which will begin in September and should last nine months.

The idea of this test has been in the pipeline since 2016, when Mel elected officials discovered a similar experiment conducted in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. "Three months after the end of the system, more than 85% of drivers still avoided rush hour to travel," says the Mel, in its press release.

According to the Consoglobe.fr website, the Dutch initiative had reduced motorway traffic by 17%. "If we manage to reduce it by 6% here, it will be enough to improve traffic flow," says Damien Castelain, president of the Metropolis of Lille (Mel). It is true that the A1 sees 12,000 vehicles pass through every hour at the peak of traffic.

Who is affected by the experiment?

The Mel combed beyond its territory to find volunteers. These are the inhabitants of a radius passing through Bethune, Lens, Arras, Cambrai and Valenciennes. Pre-registration is done between April 3 and May 12 on the changercarapporte.fr website.

"In May and June, we will check the eligibility of volunteers via Lapi [automatic license plate recognition] cameras installed at three locations on the A1 and A23. Motorists must currently use these roads during rush hour," explains Damien Castelain.



Selected volunteers will then have to download a dedicated app and accept GPS tracking on their phone to verify that they have changed their travel mode. "We trust, but we will still carry out checks," says the president of the Mel.

A device not so new and effective

Presented as new in France by the Mel, this device is not so much. In 2017, the city of Boulogne-Billancourt had already tested the positive toll, which followed exactly the same principle. The municipality had not continued the experiment.

The environmental group of the Mel denounces, for its part, a project "cosmetic and illusory, based on a chimera: the idea that people, who find themselves in traffic jams at rush hour, could do otherwise with 2 euros per trip avoided. " According to these elected officials, "the Rotterdam experience relied on video to identify and control 12,000 participants and reach 5,000 avoided trips per day on average. The Ministry of Ecological Transition notes that this experiment is not feasible in France. In addition, other experiments based on geolocation have shown a significant risk of fraud."

An article in La Tribune, published in January, even questioned the effectiveness of this incentive. Contrary to what Mel claims, two Dutch reports, one from the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and the other from an independent firm, give a very mixed assessment of the system, which was finally abandoned after being tested in various cities in the Netherlands.

One measure among others

The Ecobonus scheme is part of experiments aimed at changing modes of transport within the Lille metropolitan area. Its financing amounts to 11.3 million euros with aid from the State and possibly from the European Union and the Hauts-de-France region. If the objectives of this first test are achieved, the Mel wishes to repeat the experience by deploying the device on other axes: the A25 (Dunkerque-Lille), the A22 (Belgium-Lille) and the RN41 (La Bassée-Lille).

In addition, another experiment is due to see the light of day in 2023, at the initiative of the State: the lane reserved for carpooling. "By the end of the year, or even by July, the third lane of the A1 will be reserved for carpoolers with a bonus of 100 euros combinable with the Ecobonus," announces Damien Castelain. For the moment, carpooling remains a marginal practice in the territory. Mel statistics reflect an average of 1.1 passengers per car on the motorway network. So there is margin.

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