Are all citizens equal in rights? No, not if we consider the situation of the peripheral neighborhoods in the east and the adjacent municipalities, which are visibly disadvantaged in infrastructure investment choices.
This is why we welcome with interest the proposals of Xavier Garcia and Fouzia Ayoub, respectively departmental secretary and spokesperson for the PS, to open up La Trinité, St André, the Liserons, and Ariane.
They are free from ideology and offer interesting and low-cost solutions.
It would be beneficial for them to be read with a constructive mindset by the municipal majority and its mentor.
A good idea is neither right nor left… and as Chinese leader Deng said, “it doesn’t matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.”
Yes, it is not easy to avoid being sectarian, but with a little goodwill, it can be achieved…
In 2001, 15 years ago, the Mayor of Nice at the time promised to extend the tramway towards Ariane and La Trinité to the Jospin government, which in exchange provided additional financing for tram line 1.
Christian Estrosi did extend this line 1, but only to the Pasteur hospital, and contrary to the promises made, he has refused since his election to provide a date for the tramway network connection for La Trinité, Ariane, Saint-André de la Roche, and the Liserons.
At the same time, as President of the Metropolis, he has not improved the public transport offer for these municipalities and these isolated neighborhoods. The same bus lines 6 and 16 remain crowded during peak hours, and no blue bike stations have been set up above the tramway terminus in the east.
How do we explain this double standard? On one hand, between the municipalities of Cagnes sur Mer and Saint-Laurent du Var equipped with blue bike stations and those of La Trinité and Saint-André de la Roche, which are not, although they are less distant from the center of Nice. On the other hand, between the neighborhoods of Moulins and Ariane.
This exclusion is incomprehensible for more than 20,000 metropolitan taxpayers, who do not always have the means to own a vehicle and who feel they are paying for quality public transport offered only to other neighborhoods in Nice and other bordering municipalities of the Metropolis.
Opening up is not only a question of territorial equity but also and above all an economic issue and a factor in employment development.
Aware that the priority remains the extension of tram line 1, which we have long supported, we offer other immediately applicable and inexpensive proposals to meet the public transport needs of these territories:
1/ Set up highway shuttles for employees and spectators of the Allianz Riviera.
If they have a vehicle, an employee living in Ariane, the Liserons, St André, or La Trinité takes between 10 and 25 minutes to reach CADAM, the airport, the Carros industrial area, Cap 3000, Polygone Riviera, Sophia-Antipolis, or Monaco via the A8. If they can’t afford one, which is the case for many residents, especially young adults, it’s a real struggle, sometimes leading to giving up on accepting a job in areas where the unemployment rate is often much higher than the departmental average.
A resident of the Liserons neighborhood who works at Polygone Riviera (12 minutes by car from her home) has to leave her house at 4:45 AM to arrive at 7 AM in Cagnes sur Mer (30 minutes on foot to reach the first tram at 5:15 at Pont Michel, TER at 6:04, then shuttle at 6:30 between Cagnes station and Polygone).
Thus, we propose the implementation of highway shuttles departing from La Trinité (with stops at Pont de l’Ariane and the Liserons) and Saint-André to Monaco on one hand and Sophia-Antipolis on the other (via Nice-Nord, CADAM, Saint-Laurent du Var, and Cagnes sur Mer).
The timing could be subject to an online survey among concerned employees and students to closely adapt to practices and needs.
Moreover, as there is a marked decline of spectators at the Allianz Riviera, at a time when OGC Nice is achieving exceptional results, it is important to find solutions to the main obstacle to stadium attendance: accessibility and parking.
Highway shuttles departing from La Trinité (with stops at Pont de l’Ariane, the Liserons, and the entrance to the Nice-Nord highway) would be an entry point for the entire Paillon valley, Ariane, Bon Voyage, and also Nice-Nord, which could be served by a simple stop near the A8 entrance. This type of shuttle existed in the early 2000s for the Ray stadium, and they were always full. They would allow reaching the stadium entrance in 15 minutes compared to nearly an hour for a motorist and nearly two hours for a public transport user.
2/ Install blue bike stations between Pasteur and the municipalities of Saint-André de la Roche and La Trinité.
Saint-André de La Roche and La Trinité are much closer than Cagnes sur Mer to the city center of Nice, and the topography is not at all dissuasive for cycling. However, Cagnes sur Mer and Saint-Laurent du Var have blue bike stations, while there is none above the tramway stations of Pasteur and Pont Michel.
We must quickly address this inequality and set up stations up to the Saint-André swimming pool on one side and La Trinité town hall on the other.
Could be served by a station, from South to North: Bon Voyage school, Sainte-Marie hospital, the Liserons, Saint-André town hall, Saint-André swimming pool, the two Ariane bridges, the Oli stadium, La Bourgade middle school, La Trinité town hall. A total of 10 new stations.
3/ Improve the operating hours of bus lines 6 and 16, especially in the morning.
The first buses 6 and 16 departing from Chênes Verts-La Trinité and Ariane leave at 5:10 AM. This may seem sufficient, but it is prohibitive for a certain number of employees who start very early and to ensure a connection with the first tram that departs from Pont Michel.
Departing 10 or 15 minutes earlier could change the lives of many employees who start their shift at 6 AM in Nice or at 7 AM in other departmental municipalities, requiring one or more connections.
4/ Make the extension of line 1 to Ariane and La Trinité the next priority investment of the Metropolis
The proposals we make would make life easier for many residents by reducing the isolation they experience while living less than 10 km from Place Masséna. However, it is evident that the opening up of these municipalities and neighborhoods will go through the extension of tram line 1 to Ariane and La Trinité.
Our group in the Municipal Council had launched a petition to this effect, which was very successful. We will support any initiative that revives this issue, which should be the next priority investment of the Metropolis.
Xavier GARCIA, 1st secretary of PS 06; Fouzia AYOUB PS 06 spokesperson
Delegate of the 7th canton; Georges-Claude TROVA President of the neighborhood committee
