The French are in the midst of a renaissance of the tram as an antidote to traffic jams and gridlock – and the costs are much easier for citizens.
Tram lines are now operating at full capacity. Passengers who park at a “Park & Ride” lot pay a single price of €2.70 ($4.30) and receive a ticket valid for both parking and the tram. And for each car parked in the lot, up to four passengers can be rewarded with tram tickets at no extra charge.
In almost two dozen French cities, trams have become the hallmark of urban transformation. Nantes and Grenoble were the first cities to bring back what many had long considered to be an outmoded form of transportation. Since then, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Marseille and even the southern part of Paris have also welcomed back urban rail lines. Lille and Lyon are looking into the idea; Caen, Brest, Nancy, and Toulon are in the planning stages. Throughout France, the network of tracks is set to grow to 576 kilometers (358 miles) by 2015.