Great article! The "versement transport" truly is something that should be much more well-known outside of France.
I have only one small correction to make - in Lyon, SYTRAL isn't a private company contracted to operate the transit network - it's the pubblic agency charged with planning and financing the transit system ("AOT" - "Autorité Organisatrice des Mobilités").
Normally in France, the transit system is planned and managed by an AOT (SYTRAL for Lyon), operated by one or more companies (RATPdev, Keolis, Cars Philibert etc.) and the system operates under a unified "marque" ("branding" - "TCL" in Lyon).
In Hong Kong SAR there is a set-back on petrol/diesel tax that goes to help fund rail, but not buses. There may also be a set-back on vehicle registration tax, but this I'm not confident about. The Octopus tap payment system which is ubiquitous and preferred for all payments under HK$500 (but now starting to be challenged by cellphone payment systems because of the large pool of mainland visitors) was set up and owned by a pool of all the large public transport providers, who get a steady income from the commission on the payment system. I mention these just in case someone who could act on this information may read this post and comments.
Quick correction about Oregon. In addition to the statewide payroll tax, TriMet (the public transit provider in the Portland Metro area) also relies heavily on a payroll tax of ~0.9%.
The DMV Moves Task Force in Washington, DC seems like it's pushing in this direction. While maybe not as ambitious on the expansion front, it seems likely it will result in a dedicated revenue source and fare integration. The current head of Metro is pushing for improved operations, and it seems the Maryland and Virginia commuter rail agencies are interested in doing so as the northeast corridor improvements kick in. Hopefully within a year they'll have finalized the plans. https://dmvmoves.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/051625-presentation2.pdf
I have resided in the Atlanta MPA for over 30 years. Throughout this period there has been a 1% sales tax in Fulton & Dekalb counties and the city of Atlanta to fund MARTA. It's not a payroll tax, but it recovers a huge sum every year to fund the local transportation system. Your statement regarding the funding of local transport is rather blinkered when you overlook such funding systems. I live in Fulton county, have no convenient MARTA service, but I have no objection to paying the 1% sales tax that enables the less fortunate to travel to work and for pleasure. I could avoid the tax if I made my purchases in an adjoining county, but I would be depriving my county of its share of the sales tax.
I recall visiting Paris, France in 1963 and using rubber tyred Metro trains. Well ahead of anything in the rest of Europe. However there were ancient pre-war buses running city services. Don't forget France suffered a great deal of infrastructure damage during WWII. I've witnessed the country doing something about it. In terms of public transport the USA is a shambles compared to most European countries. I'll be in San Francisco later this week and I won't rent a car but use the public transport system, however it is fragmented in that a San Francisco Muni pass will not get me on the BART or the ferries. Of the countries that I regularly visit I find that Berlin, Germany has the best integrated public transport system, and Japan has the best national rail system. By the way I'm well aware of the financial situation regarding railways in Japan.
Hugh, thanks for writing in. During my time working for BART in the Bay Area, I had the opportunity to work with the fine folks at MARTA -- both systems share a sort of sibling relationship as rail transit built during the Great Society years. I think MARTA, along with SEPTA in Philadelphia, is the best among large American transit agencies who have done the most with less. As for the sales tax comment: BART also is quite dependent on sales tax, so I fully appreciate the importance of this mechanism as well. I think, however, when Americans/British/Canadians/Australians talk about taxation and public transit funding, payroll taxes are often omitted and never considered as a viable option. Turns out a country called France has built its entire world-class transit upon a payroll tax! That is what this post is focused on, without drawing any comparisons to other taxations.
Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoy your visit to San Francisco! It's a beautiful time of the year here. (Bring a sweater or jacket!)
Indeed, so many North American cities could instantly improve the mobility of residents, visitors, tourists, workers &c by integrating fares across modes and across transit agency boundaries. Toronto and Montreal have recently started on this - I look at their evolution as well as the opportunities for other major NA cities here: https://www.londonreconnections.com/2024/north-american-cities-join-the-fare-zone-club-finally-integrating-intermodal-fares/. It's really the German public transport slogan manifest "Organization Before Electronics Before Concrete".
Very interesting history, thank you! I wrote about the VM earlier this year as part of a review of best practice models for funding passenger transport, but didn’t know the history.
Great article! The "versement transport" truly is something that should be much more well-known outside of France.
I have only one small correction to make - in Lyon, SYTRAL isn't a private company contracted to operate the transit network - it's the pubblic agency charged with planning and financing the transit system ("AOT" - "Autorité Organisatrice des Mobilités").
Normally in France, the transit system is planned and managed by an AOT (SYTRAL for Lyon), operated by one or more companies (RATPdev, Keolis, Cars Philibert etc.) and the system operates under a unified "marque" ("branding" - "TCL" in Lyon).
Thank you for the correction. I made the edit. Readers like you help me keep accountable! Thank you for reading!
In Hong Kong SAR there is a set-back on petrol/diesel tax that goes to help fund rail, but not buses. There may also be a set-back on vehicle registration tax, but this I'm not confident about. The Octopus tap payment system which is ubiquitous and preferred for all payments under HK$500 (but now starting to be challenged by cellphone payment systems because of the large pool of mainland visitors) was set up and owned by a pool of all the large public transport providers, who get a steady income from the commission on the payment system. I mention these just in case someone who could act on this information may read this post and comments.
Quick correction about Oregon. In addition to the statewide payroll tax, TriMet (the public transit provider in the Portland Metro area) also relies heavily on a payroll tax of ~0.9%.
I heard from several Oregonians about the Trimet omission on Bluesky today. Love the passion! Thank you for the correction, and thank you for reading.
We love TriMet here! This was a great post - super informative!
The DMV Moves Task Force in Washington, DC seems like it's pushing in this direction. While maybe not as ambitious on the expansion front, it seems likely it will result in a dedicated revenue source and fare integration. The current head of Metro is pushing for improved operations, and it seems the Maryland and Virginia commuter rail agencies are interested in doing so as the northeast corridor improvements kick in. Hopefully within a year they'll have finalized the plans. https://dmvmoves.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/051625-presentation2.pdf
I have resided in the Atlanta MPA for over 30 years. Throughout this period there has been a 1% sales tax in Fulton & Dekalb counties and the city of Atlanta to fund MARTA. It's not a payroll tax, but it recovers a huge sum every year to fund the local transportation system. Your statement regarding the funding of local transport is rather blinkered when you overlook such funding systems. I live in Fulton county, have no convenient MARTA service, but I have no objection to paying the 1% sales tax that enables the less fortunate to travel to work and for pleasure. I could avoid the tax if I made my purchases in an adjoining county, but I would be depriving my county of its share of the sales tax.
I recall visiting Paris, France in 1963 and using rubber tyred Metro trains. Well ahead of anything in the rest of Europe. However there were ancient pre-war buses running city services. Don't forget France suffered a great deal of infrastructure damage during WWII. I've witnessed the country doing something about it. In terms of public transport the USA is a shambles compared to most European countries. I'll be in San Francisco later this week and I won't rent a car but use the public transport system, however it is fragmented in that a San Francisco Muni pass will not get me on the BART or the ferries. Of the countries that I regularly visit I find that Berlin, Germany has the best integrated public transport system, and Japan has the best national rail system. By the way I'm well aware of the financial situation regarding railways in Japan.
Hugh, thanks for writing in. During my time working for BART in the Bay Area, I had the opportunity to work with the fine folks at MARTA -- both systems share a sort of sibling relationship as rail transit built during the Great Society years. I think MARTA, along with SEPTA in Philadelphia, is the best among large American transit agencies who have done the most with less. As for the sales tax comment: BART also is quite dependent on sales tax, so I fully appreciate the importance of this mechanism as well. I think, however, when Americans/British/Canadians/Australians talk about taxation and public transit funding, payroll taxes are often omitted and never considered as a viable option. Turns out a country called France has built its entire world-class transit upon a payroll tax! That is what this post is focused on, without drawing any comparisons to other taxations.
Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoy your visit to San Francisco! It's a beautiful time of the year here. (Bring a sweater or jacket!)
Indeed, so many North American cities could instantly improve the mobility of residents, visitors, tourists, workers &c by integrating fares across modes and across transit agency boundaries. Toronto and Montreal have recently started on this - I look at their evolution as well as the opportunities for other major NA cities here: https://www.londonreconnections.com/2024/north-american-cities-join-the-fare-zone-club-finally-integrating-intermodal-fares/. It's really the German public transport slogan manifest "Organization Before Electronics Before Concrete".
Very interesting history, thank you! I wrote about the VM earlier this year as part of a review of best practice models for funding passenger transport, but didn’t know the history.
https://www.freewheeling.info/blog/how-to-fund-transport