aixcentric

Oh no Bateaux! …problems in port.  Apparently the popular batobus, that runs from the Vieux Port down to Pointe-Rouge in one direction and up to L’Estaque in the other, is losing money big-time.  It’s taken 1 million euros in ticket sales but has cost 3.6m euros to operate.  The UMP president of the Marseille Provence Metropole, Guy Teissier, says that the service initiated by his predecessor is proving too expensive.  So these are the changes:

• fares will go up from 3,10€ per trip to 5€
• services won’t start in March as usual.  Instead they will run from 1st May til the end of September
• the evening services will run only during July and August
• they may extend the service down to Les Goudes.

Clearly the service isn’t profitable despite boats being so popular – they’ve had 1,3m passengers since 2012.  But the social benefits of these boats should be recognised.  According to La Provence, business for local commerces at L’Estaque was boosted and the service had ‘meme sauvé des boutiques d’une fermeture définitive’.  Meanwhile at Pointe-Rouge the local council like the fact that residents can commute to work in Marseille, taking cars off the busy roads; they see the incoming tourists as a secondary benefit.  Interesting reaction though at Les Goudes.  They aren’t convinced that the infrastructure there can take boatloads (100-149 passengers) of visitors at a time, nor are they convinced that they want the calanques so readily available to ‘all of Marseille’.

Full article here: http://www.laprovence.com/article/actualites/3318971/marseille-trop-chers-les-batobus-vont-reduire-la-voilure.html