CeMoRe Seminar with Daniel Gordon on the Origins of Free Transport in French Towns
Date: 18 November 2014 Time: 4.15pm to 6.00pm
Venue: Bowland North SR17
Liberté, Egalité, Gratuité? The Origins of Free Transport in French Towns
Since the turn of the millennium, many towns across Europe have attracted attention for introducing local public transport systems completely free at the point of use, the largest of which is the Estonian capital Tallinn. One recent example, the Communist municipality of Aubagne, near Marseilles, has portrayed free transport as a utopian endeavour that seeks to 'grab hold of capitalism by its tail'. However the idea is not entirely new, for some free transport schemes have been existence since the 1970s. Based on local archives never previously used by researchers, this paper will examine the evidence from the first two towns in France to adopt free transport: Colomiers, near Toulouse, in 1971, and Compiègne, north of Paris, in 1975. Were the schemes introduced for ideological or pragmatic reasons? How were they influenced by the local context? And to what extent were they a success, in terms of both social equity and of achieving modal shift from cars? As part of a research project on the French 'transport crisis' of the 1970s, when a revolt by commuters in the suburbs of Paris led to a number of policy changes that arguably transformed French urban mobilities over the long term, this paper will explore how the emergence of free transport was linked to a wider moral economy of cheap fares.
Dr Daniel Gordon, Senior Lecturer in European History, Edge Hill University
There will be a dinnerin The Lounty @ Countyfollowing this seminar. If you would like to join us please email Pennie Drinkall
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Who can attend: Anyone
Further information
Associated staff:
Organising departments and research centres: Centre for Mobilities Research (CeMoRe), History, Mobilities.Lab, Sociology
Keywords: France, History, Transportation
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