Autorité organisatrice de transport urbain

This article is about a French legal structure for the provision of public transport. For the self-propelled vehicle, see Automobile.

In France, an autorité organisatrice de transport urbain (AOTU; urban transport organisation authority) is a type of autorité organisatrice de transports (AOT) for urban areas.

An AOTU provides the co-ordination of the urban public transport network within its area, known as the périmètre de transport urbain (PTU; urban transport perimeter). To do so it receives funds raised via a transport tax on local businesses called the versement transport (VT).

There are several types of legal structure which these organisations by which AOTUs may be governed Traditionally, urban public transport was organised by the French communes, especially in the south of France. In 1999, commune-based organisations represented over 30% of all AOTUs. Since the 1970s, however, AOTs have tended to combine across communes, with the creation of numerous syndicats intercommunaux à vocation unique (SIVUs; inter-commune single-purpose syndicates) with a remit only for the direction of urban transport. Between the end of the 1970s and 1999, 20% to 30% of AOTUs were SIVUs.

In 2004, some years after the adoption of the 1999 loi relative au renforcement et à la simplification de la coopération intercommunale (law for the improvement and simplification of inter-communal cooperation), usually known as the loi Chevènement, the most common structure for AOTUs were as communautés d’agglomération (agglomeration communities), at 43% of the total, with communautés de communes (communities of communes) making up 12% and communautés urbaines (urban communities) making up 5% of all AOTUs. Additionally, mixed syndicates represented 12% of the total in 2004, when SIVUs (8%) and syndicats intercommunaux à vocation multiples (SIVOMs; inter-commune multi-purpose syndicates) (1%) were being phased out. By 2004, 18% of all AOTUs were communes.

An AOTU can run the transport service itself (a régie en droit public français) or contract it out to another transport operator. Contractual relations between the AOTU and the contractor can also take many different forms: for example as a délégation de service public or a droit des marchés publics en France. According to the Groupement des autorités responsables de transport (GART; Transport Authorities Group), in 2004 91% of public transport networks were implemented under contract and only 9% operated in-house.