Over the past 25 years or so, the south-west French metropolis of Bordeaux has focused on building and expanding a modern low-floor tram system, which has reached a considerable length of 80 kilometres.
The expansion process had slowed down and basically came to a stop in the recent past, partly driven by the fact that the current city centre routes of the new tram have already reached their capacity limits at certain times. In order to improve daily operations, the focus has been on the predominant use of long, seven-section trams, and in September 2025 the route network is due to be reorganised by introducing two additional lines on the existing route network. There will then be six lines A to F.
Electric mobility in public transport on the roads has so far only existed to a very limited extent in Bordeaux, for example in the form of a few minibuses in the city centre. To supplement the tram network, the municipality decided to build the first BRT bus line, commonly referred to in France as Bus à Haut Niveau de Service (BHNS). Since 1 June 2024, this new line G has been running between Bordeaux Gare Saint-Jean and Saint-Aubin de Médoc, covering 21 km and expected to carry 50,000 passengers per day in the medium term, with 5-6 minute headways during rush hour. The line has 50% reserved lanes in the urban area.
