French May Bring Trolleybuses To Vientiane

France’s largest trolleybus network has offered to help Vientiane overcome its traffic congestion and air pollution problems.

Trolleybuses run on electricity and draw their power from overhead cabling.

Rhône-Lyon Joint Transport Authority President, Mr Bernard Rivalta, met with senior officials from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the Mayor of Vientiane to discuss ways Vientiane could learn from France’s experiences with its trolleybus system.

“We are here to meet with Vientiane authorities and senior officials from the ministry and talk about the possibility of future cooperation on the matter,” Mr Rivalta told Vientiane Times on Tuesday.

He said with the number of people and vehicles in Vientiane rising, the use of public transport should be promoted to ease traffic congestion.

“Each year the population is increasing and if you don’t have a good transport system, we are sure that traffic congestion will be a serious issue,” he said.

A workshop to discuss future cooperation and transport plans is scheduled for February next year.

“Today’s meeting is only to share experiences, explain the situation of the transport system in Lyon and hear about the situation in Vientiane,” Mr Rivalta said.

He said if anything came out of the discussion in February a request for financial assistance would be submitted to major international banks in Vientiane, including possibly the World Bank or Asia Development Bank.

Source: Vientiane Times