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Inter-urban mobility: making up for our investment backlog
In sixty years, the home-to-work distance has risen from three or four kilometres to thirty or fifty depending on the region, and sometimes more than one hundred kilometres round trip towards the Île-de-France region.
This shift happened at the very moment when investment in infrastructure was slowing down. For Franck Leroy, the answer lies in modernising the regional rail network, developing express coach services and funding this upgrade through the operating profits of motorway companies.
What levers can we use to rethink inter-urban mobility?
In this interview filmed at the event organised in April 2026 by Geonexio, the think & do tank of Transdev in France, Franck Leroy looks back at how inter-urban mobility has evolved and at the need to adapt infrastructure to new travel patterns. He stresses the importance of strengthening rail networks, developing intermodality and promoting solutions such as express coaches, in order to offer citizens mobility that is more efficient, more sustainable and more accessible.
Interurban mobility has grown significantly over the past few decades. In the 1960s, people generally worked just 3 to 4 kilometers from where they lived. Today, commuting distances of 30 to 50 kilometers are common, depending on the region, and for those traveling to and from the Paris area, daily round trips of more than 100 kilometers are not unusual. This means that this phenomenon is relatively recent, and it emerged at a time when investment in infrastructure was actually tending to decline. Today, responsibility for this issue has rested with the regions for around ten years, following the NOTRe law. It is therefore important to broaden the range of available solutions, both through rail transport, as upgrading railway infrastructure can in some cases make it possible to develop intermodal solutions that integrate rail into everyday journeys, and through options such as express coach services and bus rapid transit systems. These solutions require less infrastructure work while remaining highly relevant to helping citizens reduce their dependence on private cars, or use their cars only for a short distance to reach a station or transit hub where they can switch to public transport as part of an intermodal journey. Over recent decades, we have fallen considerably behind. We placed a strong emphasis on high-speed rail, which has been very successful, but in doing so we neglected other modes of transport. Today, there is a clear need to modernize and upgrade the entire transport system. The framework law proposed by Philippe Tabarot is, in this respect, the right approach. In particular, the ability to use future operating profits from motorway concession companies and allocate these funds to the development, rehabilitation and modernization of infrastructure, as well as to addressing the “hidden infrastructure debt” resulting from years of underinvestment, would ensure that we are able to meet the challenges ahead. These challenges are of critical importance to the country's competitiveness. Fournissez vos commentaires sur BizChat
A recent phenomenon, infrastructure left behind
In the 1960s, people generally worked three or four kilometres from home. Today, it is common to travel between thirty and fifty kilometres depending on the region, and sometimes more than one hundred kilometres round trip towards the Paris region.
This phenomenon is therefore relatively recent. It emerged at a time when investment levels in infrastructure were tending to fall, producing a grey debt: the accumulation of our investment shortfalls.
Opening up the field o fpossibilities
For around ten years, responsibility for inter-urban transport has lain with the regions. Two levers make it possible to respond without delay:
- Upgrading rail infrastructure, which in some cases opens up intermodal solutions integrating rail into everyday journeys.Express coaches and bus rapid transit, which require less infrastructure work while remaining relevant in allowing everyone to leave the car behind, or to drive only a few hundred metres to the station before switching to public transport.
“We invested heavily in high speed, which worked very well, but we forgot all the other modes of transport. Today, this transport system needs upgrading.””
Funding the upgrade
The framework law proposed by Philippe Tabarot, Minister for Transport, is, according to Franck Leroy, the right angle of attack. It would make it possible to allocate the operating profits of motorway companies to developing and refurbishing infrastructure, and therefore to clearing the grey debt.
The stakes go beyond ecology alone: they directly affect the country's competitiveness.
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