In 2010, Certu brought out a publication on the subject of integrating transport policies and planning, illustrated by five innovative experiences of charters and axis contracts in Lille, Grenoble, Toulouse, the Paris region and in the Greater Geneva urban area. Continuing on from this first publication, this new work provides an update on the progress of these efforts. It then highlights the new dynamics in progress on the recent axis contracts begun around suburban railway lines.
The publication also explores the North American concept of TOD as yet largely unknown to practitioners in France. It reports on how this is applied in the United States. It also discusses examples of how it is used in Montreal, Mexico and China. These different approaches are put into perspective so as to find what can be learnt from them. While both these «tools» share the same ambition for intensification and the design of compact urban areas around transport corridors, in practice they are used differently.
This experience feedback from French axis contracts and international versions of the TOD is aimed at councillors, engineering departments of local authorities, urban planning agencies, and consulting firms wishing to initiate approaches of the same type to develop short distance towns that are integrated with public transport.