How do trams make cities better?
What’s everyone saying it’s your boy Su explor back again it’s sunny it’s beautiful I’m here in Northwest France in non in today’s video I’m going to be answering why does France love their trams so much let’s have a discussion let’s rise some trams and let’s see what they’re all
About across the world many cities have been undertaking massive Redevelopment projects to improve their respective Urban Fabrics stimulate economic growth and make their cities in attractive proposition to potential residents businesses and tourists France has been a Trailblazer for the whole world in terms of using public transport projects
As a tool to revitalize their cities here in non the tram system has been a symbol of the C’s desire to adapt and grow as the population grew and the city moved away from a mainly industrial and shipping based economy under the leadership of Mayor Jean Maro between
1989 and 2012 the the city moved towards a service based economy also ranning its identity to recognize its proximity to the Atlantic Coast in January 1985 the non- Tramway began operation beginning the third isation of TRS in the city with Services running from K in the city center to aler in the east of the city subsequent extensions made over the next four years resulted in Services reaching the stad
The B non football stadium to the East and Bev to the west of the city subsequently two new lines were opened in 1992 and 2000 running from north to south crossing the original line at K in the sea center nowadays line one the original line is 18.4 km in length running from B
Oron in the East through the city center linking the railway station the chat Duke bran and Comm to jam and fron to the West non traway was the first modern traway to be built in France although santti Tian and Le’s original tra systems have stayed open all the way
Through opening in 1881 and 1909 respectively this new tram was a big deal as it was a major project with the transport scheme of this scale not seen in Europe since World War II in non constructing a modern TR system has been an integral part of the Regeneration of
The city following the Advent of the motor car and the expansive efforts to adap cities to accommodate the increase of car usage including wild expansion of urban freeways and wide roads people realized wa whoa whoa whoa whoo what’s happened to my city city centers became polluted and overcrowded with cars all
Over the Gaff non’s TR was to be unique integrated in the city center streets gate running along Wild boulevards as it headed out west whilst running on ballasted track heading out east towards adua under mayor Alan shenah construction began in Autumn 1981 but by 1983 he’d been out of office losing the
Local election interestingly he was replaced with incoming mayor Michelle shy who held strong opposition to the tramways but construction had gone too far along the line for him to cancel the thing otherwise he would have had the cities and his political image thrown into the gutter opening in 1985 the TRS were the
First to use the Revolutionary TFS TR Fran built by Al these TRS have gone on to be used in Paris Gran stian and R they’re still kind of about the city today in fact I personally like them but many probably don’t they don’t have air conditioning so it gets a tad warm
During the summer the CHS aren’t the best when it comes to accessibility they’ve had to be retrofitted with level boarding and their age their very old age can be felt you know These Guys these bad boys are nearly 40 years old following the opening of line one line
Two was opened in 1992 eventually forming a line that runs from oral in the North through commer down to reuso in the South the tra also links the city center with Echo Cal D and oenia business school the two big universities to the north of the city line three then came in 2000
Eventually sharing the line with 92 between Comm and and the line runs between Marcel po to the north and NRI in the South there’s also been an additional investment into the Rolling Stock with 32 Bombardier incenters and 12 CFB those 3es entering service now when you look
At a map of the tram routs in non you might also note at number four and a number five but I’ll get to that in a bit as I have mentioned non tram has been a leader in showing how light rail development can help transform a city numerous cities around France have
Followed in the footsteps and have been studied extensively in academic literature light Ro development has helped improve his City’s image reduced the Reliance on vehicle traffic into City centers and linked previously poorly served neighborhoods with economic centers grobble in eastern France and their light rail system helped coin the phrase the Grenoble
Effect which captures the way in which light rail was successfully integrated with wider Urban Development plans to transform the city center into an aesthetically appealing place where pedestrianization and public squares replace private vehicle Mobility spaces wide boulevards were also transformed from car through fairs and parking to areas specifically designated for public
Transport in this case trams and pedestrians this is the case with non non undertook a scheme of land reclamation billing in the former waterways around the fidor district and to North Line one traverses the wide and open landscape build of Green Space playgrounds water features and an area built to encourage foot traffic
It’s a space where people could come and meet up socialize have a picnic go on a date propose to their girlfriend and do some tra sporting even when walking around at 9:00 p.m. on a summer’s evening there was a feeling of like safety and calmness knowing that I could
Enjoy a glass of wine whilst the TR passes by not having to worry about a rogue Persia trying to run me over down the road at commer the kurage which is 50 hostages Esplanade in English yeah yeah now home to line two and three used to be an e Lane
Expressway cutting through the city and is now home to a much more sympathetic shared Road for pedestrians buses cars and tramps if you head further north which I couldn’t really do because of Road works and tram works the road curves East and the Treeland Road along the river just looks
Amazing from a paper by B in 2017 this was written yeah shop owners initially worried about losing their motorized customers were realizing that an ace Street environment could benefit them property owners could expect a substantial increase in value of real estate both commercial and residential
And you see this yeah this is what fris Le bonger and may Shorty would have realized in 1992 when line 2 opened studies looking at systems like bordeau have shown that tram development would link parts of the city that were economically deprived had low employment statistics or were just isolated from
Other parts of their respective cities as well as the tram being a tool to help produce amazing Urban Landscapes remember it’s a method of Transport that people can use to get around and the company in charge thong which had been rebranded to na 2 weeks after visited and by extension the local
Government have done a great job in attracting people to the system fairs are very reasonable €80 for unlimited rides in 60 minutes 640 for 24 hours and for tourists you can get what is called a non path which includes free entry to a lot of non tourist attractions plus
You get free travel a not public transport system oh and and all bus and tram Services minus the airport express are free to everyone on a Saturday and Sunday it’s amazing since 2000 there have been 20 new tram systems built in France following in the footsteps of non but
Adapting it in a way that fits their respective cities they’ve come in all shapes and sizes from the 7 km line in opened in 2011 to the 83 km Network in bordo which opened in 2003 I went down the road to check out the newly extended Network in O 30 minutes
East of non check out my video on how I got there here On’s tram system was opened in 2011 with line a originally running from aen to the north through the city center past Railway Station to Ros in the South the network had recently been extended I
Visited less than 2 months after it opened there are three lines now a B and C the extension added a second route for the city center and two new spares one heading out Northeast to Mon and one head out west to B Bay Area of Oni home
To several of the universities in the city now when it came to the development of some of these CH systems Aesthetics was an important thing to consider in someone’s meral office someone said this if I want to improve my City’s image and catalyze Redevelopment I don’t want these pesky wires disturbing the
Nice views of those fancy buildings well this was a case in a number of these cities they didn’t want to have wires and poles all across the GFF disrupting the nice scenery of their historic City centers this is when the power of nimbyism and transport nerdiness came
Together as one and alom came in clutch in 2000 when they developed APS Al APS basically allowed cities to get rid of overhead wires and canaries by having the TRS power being fed from the ground by a strip of metal between the rails first introduced him Balo following
Opposition to having cering equipment in the city center the technology has been in places like Sydney Australia and Dubai n in the south of France was also planning to use APS as a means to avoid having C across PL garal but they went for a battery system
Instead here in APS has been used out in a and in the historic City Center like here at placeo a stunning Square and across this new bridge leond is out the don’t worry it’s safe safe to stand on it’s only activated in blocks when a tram is very close a big Focus has also been on making sure that the trams themselves look nice that they don’t stick out like a sore thumb against the
Backdrop of the beautiful city Al stom who produced a very popular CAD this trams are known not to Just Produce trams with varying liveries but to design TRS that have varying designs decided by the respective local governments I personally think that D has the best TRS just look at that o the
City of on built the tries here under the same pretense as other cities it would help redevelop the city late new locations and spur economic growth in this case the local government willingly ran line a into the middle of nowhere every year with the anticipation that development would happen around it and
It’s worked there’s new schools homes shops and much more being built around the chm line closer to town there has been active work to submerge the expressway that runs along the river men to create a new passageway along the river for pedestrians repairing the damage of postwar car-based urban planning oo the
Tra has been one part of this goal and it is for sure working now an important metric in judging a successful transportation system is how integrated the system is with other modes of Transport in non and similarly in buses trains and cycle infrastructure have been carefully planned to intertwine with their
Respective traa networks in non there have been two bus lines that have been constructed to link very well with the city’s TRS well they’re technically classed as bu but these two lines on the tra Network map line four and line five have been built in a way where future wor
Could convert the lines into full tram lines commencing in 2006 line 4 runs from F cedal in the city center heading out South to P it’s known for being a long boy operated with a set of h l TRS which should try Articulated it run alongs line five which began operation in 2020 running on more conventional articulated boys from nonto main station out west to Angar banan the two busway routes really feel like TRS in development serving the IL which has been undergoing immense regeneration over the last couple of decades retaining its industrial
Heritage the island has grown immensely in popularity becoming the trendy hipster part of non home of culture and music here non’s most popular tourist attraction Le machine brings people from all over to Marvel at the wonderful engineering projects on show and most importantly the great elephant down the way when I was there
There was a free techno Rave in a former part of the docks open to all with people of all ages having fun enjoying the tunes and vibing under the French Sun it was amazing I got to sit on the ground with a French pint and deep why I
Was so alone that no one could witness this Urban heaven with me non shows how public transport investment especially in light rail can act as a tool to improve cities all over Europe and all over the world in that matter even across the pond several cities have done
Light Rail very well including Portland Oregon and Jersey City New Jersey but when you look back home you look back at London we’re still waiting for a tram link extent attention to Bramley or L soon come soon come soon come yeah I’m here at to Marine ter stop
Out in the West on line one the Terminus is just down the road there if you like the video make sure you drop a like subscribe comment all that good stuff I’m going to go in get some cookies some biscuits some drink and head back home I’ll catch you in the
Next video see you in the B now
I look at how trams have been used to regenerate cities across the world, focusing on Nantes, in France, home to the country’s first modern tramway.
Shout out to my Patrons: Will Tucker, Tony Cottam
——————————–
Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/SomeoneExplores
Buy me a coffee!: https://ko-fi.com/someoneexplores
——————————–
MUSIC
Music from Epidemic Sound:
Get 30 days free of copyright free music by using the link: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/kayto1/
——————————–
Follow me on social media:
Instagram: someone.explores
Twitter: the_malis
00:00 Intro
00:30 The history of Nantes’ tramway
03:33 Tramway Français Standard