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Supporting employment through mobility: Lille’s leap forward
Access to transport plays a key role in employment outcomes. With the MobiliMEL project, Lille Metropole is expanding transport services in order to support employment. Isobel Duxfield talked to project coordinators Catherine Descamps and Martin Lebegue to find out more
An intersection in Lille, © Alexandre van Thuan
As multiple studies have revealed, better access to public transport increases employment probabilities: academics and lobbyists alike have repeatedly called for public policies targeted at improving access to public transport.
Now, POLIS member Lille Metropole is taking concerted action to expand transport services in order to support employment: its MobiliMEL project aims to make it easier to move around the city by helping citizens access transport options. This is how MobiliMEL is revolutionising accessible mobility in the city, according to the project’s coordinators Catherine Descamps and Martin Lebegue.
TC: What was the reason this project was started? Why did you feel it was important for it to be established?
Lille Metropole has a high unemployment rate – above the national average (10.2% versus the national 8.43% in 2019). Developing mobility is key to addressing this: access to transit services ensures our citizens can access jobs and do their work successfully. Our project seeks to tackle the issue: while a set of solutions were already available in the territory, they needed to be promoted, developed and translated into a more user-friendly format – one that was rooted in local needs.
Catherine Descamps, MobiliMEL project co-ordinator
Martin Lebegue. MobiliMEL project co-ordinator
TC: What role does mobility play in access to employment? What research has been conducted in Lille Metropole around this issue and do you have any specific examples of this?
Mobility, alongside health problems, is the most important factor for accessing and retaining employment – an issue that has been reported by many employment professionals across Lille Metropole’s territory. In the project’s preliminary phase, which lasted a year and a half, we launched a survey, as well as discussion groups with the public to identify uses, difficulties, and needs. Based on the results and combining them with an inventory of mobility service offers and benchmarking work, we drafted recommendations to elected officials for the consequent operational phase. The survey revealed some of the primary difficulties individuals have been facing when attempting to access transit services. These included educational (not knowing how to find the way, read a map, calculate a route), financial (being unable to sustain the cost of subscription), psychological (having apprehension, public transport phobia, insecurity), and accessibility (living in both rural and semi-rural areas)1 issues.
A street in Lille, © Geoffroy Hauwen
TC: What are the platform’s main objectives?
The overarching objective of the platform is to support people who encounter transport and travel difficulties into finding mobility solutions to facilitate employment opportunities and job retention.
If we had to break it down into smaller goals, we could say that MobiliMEL aims at:
- Informing and better communicatig on the various service offers in order to encourage and facilitate travel;
- Removing the obstacles linked to mobility to promote professional integration;
- Reinforcing collaboration between mobility actors but also with actors in the employment and social integration fields to optimize the coherence of actions on the territory;
- Working with companies on their mobility requirements when they recruit;
- Supporting initiatives to provide solutions adapted to the territory and the public;
- Having more visibility on the evolution of audiences and actions in terms of mobility.
TC: How are you establishing links with businesses and employers?
At this time, a partnership exists between Lille Metropole and Réseau Alliances. This local business network is developing an offer to support businesses in the drafting of their Company Travel Plans (in French, plan de déplacement des entreprises). In addition, Lille Metropole’s business support offer includes a component on Corporate Social Responsibility to allow the identification of good practices in terms of employee mobility.
TC: The project has been launched at a time when the French Government has been attempting to create more sustainable commuting options. Can you explain more about the Sustainable Mobilities Package?
The Sustainable Mobilities Package was launched by the French Government in 2020 to promote sustainable travel (cycling, micromobility and carsharing to name a few) among commuters. For a long time, people that actually cycled to work did not benefit from any financial support from their employers, contrarily to those taking public transport or cars (free parking spot, fuel expenses).
Lille Metropole’s business support offer includes a component on Corporate Social Responsibility to allow the identification of good practices in terms of employee mobility
Cycling in Lille, © Geoffroy Hauwen
This new scheme is not mandatory and French companies and public administrations are free to implement it or not. It officially started in 2021 and can reach €500 per year for private companies and €200 for public administrations. It can be combined with other transport subsidies (public transport, or fuel expenses), but cannot exceed the overall €500 budget.
TC: This project uses a range of incredibly interesting techniques and technologies to enhance access to transport services and tackle the obstacles people face. Can you give our readers some insight?
Bicycles parked in a street in Lille, © Alexandra Verniest
In addition to the website, the MobiliMEL project has also other components:
- The creation of dedicated mobility advisor positions to welcome and assist people in their journey planning;
- The implementation of actions responding to the identified needs of the public (such as Trajitters: young people in civic service who support people in need in public transport or awareness-raising actions in middle schools carried out by schoolchildren).
- The support to other projects aimed at developing or creating a mobility service offer that meets identified needs.
TC: How do these fit with Lille Metropole’s other digital mobility solutions?
Lille Metropole’s public transport operator has a map calculator, but it is not specifically targeted. MobiliMEL was designed to provide specific support to people on their way to work. In addition, Lille Metropole has launched a platform dedicated to youth mobility and international cooperation. It is designed to be an interface, through which young people and social organisations (and every other part of the civil society) can interact, raise awareness and make youngsters mobility dreams a reality. All of the participants involved are called “Makers”. This international mobility platform is managed by the CRIJ Hauts-de-France, conducted within the framework of the French National Program Investing for the Future and supported by the City of Lille.
Lille Metropole has launched a platform dedicated to youth mobility and international through which young people and social organisations can interact
© Alexis Mette
FCM Youth Mobility Makers aims to be as accessible as possible to young people, while meeting their individual needs and addressing their specific situations. It was created to use the power and energy of the incoming mobility by sharing knowledge, cultures and languages. The platform also promotes European and international mobility and a sense of shared citizenship through a series of events and activities aimed at young people in schools, as well as social and community centres in our partner cities.
TC: What advice would you give to other cities seeking to embark on a similar project?
Cross-sector engagement is essential. Projects need to be supported at the political level and co-constructed with the public, employment professionals and mobility stakeholders to allow the implementation of useful and concrete actions. As this often takes time, it is very important to be realistic about timescales and grant sufficient time to work with the necessary stakeholders and tailor the project to individual city needs. Another important aspect is utilising existing resources. Base the project on what already exists to avoid creating a new actor or a new tool from scratch. Failing to do so risks reducing the impact and visibility of the project – as well as the ones already underway!
Martin Lebegue and Catherine Descamps are, respectively, Employment Policy Officer for the MobiliMEL project and MobiliMEL Coordinator at “Compétences et employ” at the City of Lille (Lille Metropole). Isobel Duxfield is Membership and Communications Officer at POLIS Network. Contact them: mlebegue@lillemetropole.fr, cdescamps@lillemetropole.fr and iduxfield@polisnetwork.eu
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