Autorité organisatrice de transports
In France, an autorité organisatrice de transports, usually abbreviated AOT, is one of the local government bodies implementing the 1982 law for the organisation of transportation in France.
At the local level a commune, or more commonly a group of them, is an autorité organisatrice de transport urbain. Such an organisation may either run public transport services itself or contract them out other bodies such as private companies. Authorities try to balance the books, notably by levying a tax called the versement transport which is deducted from wages of those working in the area covered by their services, known as the périmètre de transport urbain.
Departments of France are autorités organisatrices des transports non urbains for their area, by the law of 14 November 1949 and not by Loti. Île-de-France Mobilités, formerly the Syndicat des transports d'Île-de-France, is the transport organisation authority in the Île-de-France.
In urban areas the AOT governing the regional rail services provided by the Transport express régional, that of the General Coach Council and one or more other inter-commune public bodies, all may coexist trying to govern the same geographical area. This can create difficulties in co-ordinating timetables, service frequencies and fares. Sometimes this is sorted out by creating a joint syndicate body to which the several AOTs delegate their authority.
