Questioning the Relevance of Regional Bus and Train for Low Traffic Flow through a Sustainable Approach

Sophie Hasiak (1) , Mathieu Rabaud (1)

1 Cerema Equipe-projet ESPRIM - Centre d'Etudes et d'Expertise sur les Risques, l'Environnement, la Mobilité et l'Aménagement - Equipe-projet ESPRIM

In the current difficult economic situation, a political debate about the more relevant mode for regional low-traffic services has been opened in France. This paper aims to contribute to this debate by studying the next complex issue: is a train more relevant than a coach for low-traffic routes? It suggests a specific methodological approach based on a sustainable comparative analysis of a regional service supply according to the operating mode (train or coach). It does not pretend to conclude on this relevance topic but underlines the strengths and weaknesses of each mode.

Mots clés: mode relevance; low traffic; train; sustainable; coach

Domaines: Sociologie; Géographie

Sophie Hasiak, Mathieu Rabaud. Questioning the Relevance of Regional Bus and Train for Low Traffic Flow through a Sustainable Approach. Transportation Research Procedia, 2016, 14, pp.1287 - 1295. ⟨10.1016/j.trpro.2016.05.201⟩. ⟨halshs-01395015⟩