In the countryside, the car is not automatic

And if it was possible ? And if, even in the countryside, we could move around other than by private car? We would not want to become the first journalist torn in public square by a group of yellow vests, but a small rural area has been carrying out an innovative policy for several years which forces us to seriously ask ourselves the question.

This atypical region is the Grands Causses regional natural park, in the south of Aveyron. And rural side, we do not do better. Here, the landscapes are dominated by limestone plateaus and majestic forests. Here, rivers like the Tarn, Sorgue and Dourdou de Camarès have carved deep valleys dotted with tormented villages, massive castles and Templar churches. Here, the largest towns are called Millau, 22,000 inhabitants all wet, and Saint-Affrique, 8,200 souls. Here, apart from these two “urban centres”, the density is often less than 10 inhabitants per square kilometer and there are more sheep than men… Suffice to say that the first time that the park officials mentioned the idea to develop the use of bicycles, carpooling and hitchhiking, they knew full well that everyone would take them for zozos with a guilty tendency to abuse hallucinogenic substances. And yet…

A craftsman on an electric bike

See Michel Jacquemin. This 60-year-old carpenter lives in Castelnau-Pégayrols and has customers within a radius of around thirty kilometers around his home. “It’s simple, he says, for decades, to get around, it was car, car and car.” Until the day when this craftsman with deep-rooted ecological convictions could no longer bear to pollute the planet. “It was ten years ago, he remembers. For six months, I decided to take my bike as often as possible. But it was hellish: in Aveyron, there are hills everywhere, and these are not fake dishes! I always ended up sweating and exhausted.”

Morale at half mast, he prepares, with a heavy heart, to get back to his car when he discovers the electric bike. A revelation. “Not only do I cross the climbs without any problem, but I control my travel time, I pollute less, I act in line with my values, I am in better health and I save money!”, enthused-t -he. He even manages to use his bike to go to work. “Of course, when I have equipment to transport, I take my car. But for a reading of measurements or a small repair, I get on my bicycle.”

Activist practice? Without a doubt. Hence the device launched in 2016 by the park to convince others: electric bikes offered to residents for an entire week. “Our idea was to encourage people from Aveyron to go beyond their preconceived ideas by testing this new mode of transport on a daily basis, whether it’s for a short run, a yoga class or even going to the office. Because for some, it’s is quite possible: 40% of the inhabitants live in the municipality where they work”, underlines Florent Tarrisse, man-orchestra of this innovative policy as general manager of the services of the regional park.

“War is a simple art and all of execution”, said Napoleon. Mobility, too. This is why the business of seduction does not stop there. Very cleverly, at the end of the trial week, a significant reduction is offered to any purchaser of a new electric bike, provided they go through a local dealer. Bingo! “Among the first 450 borrowers, 30% bought a bike right away,” says Alexandre Chevillon, one of the park’s project managers. Because often, to try it is to adopt it. “I carried out tests in 2016 and I thought it was great, testifies Gilles Guillot, the boss of a small audiovisual production company who works in Millau, 13 kilometers from his home. Today , my partner has one and I’m saving to buy a second one.”

Travel while polluting less

No hasty conclusion: the electric bike is obviously not the magic solution for getting around the countryside. That’s good: it’s not the only option offered by the Grands Causses regional natural park either, which has decided to fire on all cylinders. Hitchhiking, for example, suffered from a somewhat old-fashioned image? Never mind: an agreement has been made with the company Rezo Pouce, which has set up a free and secure system. A badge on the windshield, materialized stops on the road, a small sign indicating the hitchhiker’s destination. And success. “The average waiting time is five minutes and we already have nearly 300 subscribers, not counting those who practice it without being subscribers. We are not inventing anything. In fact, it is enough to create a favorable atmosphere for people rediscover this effective solution. In this case, it works”, specifies Florent Tarrisse.

Not only does what already exists work, but the park still has multiple projects in its drawers. Take the Roquefort activity zone. Thierry and Fabien, who nevertheless live in the same village, go there every day, each taking their own car. Absurd ? Apparently, yes; actually no. Because it’s quite stupid: “As we are not part of the same society, we do not start and we do not end at the same time”. This is why the park is currently discussing with the bosses of the sector to try to harmonize working hours as part of an “inter-company travel plan”. A plan that could change everything for Thierry and Fabien, who have already made their calculations. “If we can switch to carpooling, we will each save 150 euros per month.”

Hybrid car rental system, creation of parking areas for carpooling, possibility for anyone to get on a school bus… The philosophy put in place here is easy to understand: offer the maximum number of alternative devices to the individual car so that everyone can continue to move, but pollute less.

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And public transport, in all this? “Overall, they are not efficient in a territory as rural as ours, with the sole exception of the Millau-Roquefort-Saint-Affrique axis”, indicates Alain Fauconnier, PS mayor of this last municipality and president of the park. Still, the offer must be well designed, which was really not the case until now, with no less than… four different transport companies, each operating in a vacuum, with its timetables and its specific pricing method. The south of Aveyron is therefore in the process of putting everything back together, with the objective of lowering prices and, above all, a timetable adapted to employees of companies, hospitals, colleges and surrounding high schools.

It remains that certain journeys can only be made with the sacrosanct car. But here again, we can act. The ideal, when possible, is to buy a less polluting vehicle, as Stéphane Chatellard did. “My wife and I had two cars and spent a lot of money on diesel, explains the director of the Maison du peuple theater in Millau. We opted for an electric Zoé, which we use as often as possible and we keep diesel only for long journeys and for when we need to move at the same time.”

Thanks to the bonuses, the small car came back to them at 12,000 euros instead of 22,000 euros. Still too expensive for small budgets, of course. Never mind: for those too, the Parc des Grands Causses has ideas, such as training in… eco-driving. “By shifting gears a little earlier, by anticipating a traffic light turning green, by learning to use the accelerator well, you can reduce your fuel consumption by 15 to 20%”, says Alexandre Chevillon, studies supporting. “Our goal is not to make the car disappear at all costs, but to lower our energy consumption, whatever the means”, sums up Florent Tarrisse.

The journey that pollutes the least: the one we don’t take

In the Aveyron, we also know the old rule according to which the journey which pollutes the least is the one which we do not take. For this reason, the park makes business leaders aware of the telework and videoconferences. He himself has shown the way by signing an agreement on this subject with his employees.

In short, here, everyone phosphorus to find effective solutions, without ever taking themselves for Einstein. “Most often, we looked at what worked elsewhere while trying to adapt it to us”, specifies, modest, Florent Tarrisse. And what is pleasing is that the example of some seems to make others think. “In my village, I was the first to travel by electric bike and, at the time, I was looked at as an original. Today, a dozen people have taken the plunge”, illustrates Michel Jacquemin.

What is particularly gratifying is that the Grands Causses Regional Natural Park proves that, to save the planet, there is no need for blood or tears. Between Millau and Saint-Affrique, no moralizing speeches, no anti-car diatribes, no house arrest, not the slightest desire to concentrate the populations in the cities at the risk of seeing the villages die. On the contrary. “We want a living rurality that respects nature”, asserts Alain Fauconnier. An experience that Emmanuel Macron and the government should perhaps have observed earlier…