Article · February 16, 2024

Public transport vs the private car, round one: express intercity coaches

Three criteria: cost per kilometre, CO2 per kilometre, passenger satisfaction

A private car costs €0.19 to €0.40 per kilometre. Express coaches come in at €0.03 to €0.05 per user - and cut the carbon footprint from 75g to 29g of CO2 per passenger-kilometre.

France is embracing a major shift: boosting collective, low-carbon intercity transport to keep chipping away at the dominance of the private car.

The private car still rules the road, but as environmental pressures intensify, that model is showing its economic and ecological limits: maintenance costs, carbon footprint, urban congestion. This is the context in which express coaches enter the picture for intercity journeys, as a bold and innovative answer to current problems.

For reference, the Île-de-France region approved the creation of 45 new lines by 2030 at the end of 2023, and a new express coach line - the “430” - has been created between Bordeaux and Blaye, with a dedicated lane on the A10 motorway and the Aquitaine bridge.

These services embody a wider improvement in territorial public services and in service to users, around three fundamental criteria we intend to track systematically.

• Cost per kilometre: adjusted for average occupancy, the private car costs between €0.19 and €0.40 per kilometre depending on the model. Express coaches, thanks to their optimised economics, come in at €0.03 to €0.05 per user per kilometre, depending on routes and services offered;
• CO2 footprint per kilometre: while a petrol car emits around 75g of CO2 per kilometre, express coaches - equipped with less polluting technology and sharing journeys between several passengers - cut that footprint drastically, to an estimated 29.33g per passenger;
• Passenger satisfaction: the car offers unrivalled flexibility, but express coaches, with onboard services (WiFi, power sockets, comfortable seats) and punctuality - a coach every 20 minutes at peak times between Bordeaux and Blaye - are an attractive alternative.

For a decarbonised future, France needs to intensify and diversify its intercity transport offer. Express coaches are not an end in themselves, but the beginning of a wider revolution in the way we think about travel. They lay the groundwork for a future in which mobility is shared, ecological and adapted to everyone’s needs.

An article by IMPACT CONSULTANTS - Paul de Rosen and Yvanna Mbianda.