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There are two reasons which necessitate an immediate decision : — One is the indications of the 1982 census, which shows the rapid increase of urban sprawl between the two towns, even with a loss of 30 000 inhabitants for Marseille. This intermediate urbanization demands better planning and organization of this space and must not be left to whatever comes about through individuals particular needs or desires, at issue is the immediate and obvious disappearance of the open country and natural landscapes of the area. — The other reason which imposes a quick choice is the saturation of the existing routes. The North Freeway has a traffic of 120 000 véhicules for day with a capacity of 90 000. The single way railway line Marseille-Aix is known for its slopes and difficult curves as well as its poor traffic flow. The automobile has a huge place in the heart of Metropolitan Marseille traffic, this is to the detriment of a balanced development of public transportation. The solutions : Elected officials from the « department » or « region » thought of : first, the construction of an « aerotrain », secondly, the railway solution meaning the electrification and the construction of a second way for Marseille-Aix, with an antenna to Plan de Campagne (a large shopping-center) and Marignane (Airport), thirdly, a special bus-line running along the two ways of the Aix-Marseille freeway. These solutions seem to be abandonned now to the profit of a north-coastal highway through the Chaîne de l'Estaque. This would allow for a junction with the highways for Martigues and Paris. As such the traffic of the proposed route would permit better circulation of buses going towards Aix or Marignane. This solution is not perhaps the happiest, nor in the long run the most economic. But in any case it seems to be the future of transports and urbanization for the present time.

The new tramway in Nantes will be achieved in the end of 1983. It will be a good example of a new utilisation for urban transport of an old age system which has been renewed by technical improvements. It will be a new mean for the integration of the suburbs and the inner part of the town, for it will be a strong link between them. In the same time, the Nantes experience will show that a public transport system is able to lead to the control of urban growth from the point of vue of the location of new large buildings and also of the social organization of new built areas.

The Montreal Metropolitan Area (almost 3 millions inhabitants) is achieving three networks of heavy transportation, all three unfinished : the urban highways, the subway, a regional rail rapid transit system. These developments occur in a difficult conflicting framework, at the municipal level as well as among the managers of the networks. Without any structure able to set up the final settlements, it is finally the provincial government which plays this role.