Mobility: a lever for action with multiple effects
March 2024
More and more elected representatives are using mobility as a lever for action to improve access to services and employment, foster social links, support socio-economic development and act on the environment.
Mobility policies present a number of challenges.
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Guaranteeing mobility for all and combating inequalities, including for those who cannot drive their car for physical or material reasons. The immobility rate in sparsely populated areas can be as high as 30% of senior citizens over the course of a day, far higher than in denser areas. Some of this immobility is unintentional, reflecting difficulties in getting around and in accessing primary services and employment.
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Developing access to services and jobs and building social links. Even if digital advances can sometimes compensate for isolation, dematerialised services and jobs will not be able to meet everyone’s needs.
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Protecting the environment and combating climate change. The transport sector accounts for 31% of France’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. These emissions are mainly due to people travelling by private car. They account for more than 51% of the transport sector’s emissions.
This is the only sector where emissions have increased since 1990.
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Make the various public policies coherent, particularly regional planning and the distribution of activities, in order to control mobility needs and the costs of building and managing infrastructures. In order to be fully effective and sustainable, mobility initiatives must form part of a comprehensive regional strategy, incorporating measures relating to urban planning, housing, the environment, economic activity, employment, etc.
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Revitalising small town centres, facilitating access to shops and making it easier to get to cultural centres means revitalising economic activity and recreating social links.