The French city bus giants multiply their acquisitions and contracts in the US and Canada.

Has the US become the new El Dorado for French bus companies? We can believe it because the big French players like RATP, Keolis and Transdev are multiplying their contracts (and acquisitions) across the Atlantic. From North Carolina to California and Florida, French operators have won the trust of several major cities.

Transdev expands its network in the United States…

Topping the list is Transdev, a 66% subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and Germany’s Rethmann, which previously made its mark by buying giant First Transit in late 2022 for an undisclosed amount.

This acquisition doubled Transdev’s size in the region and earned it the title of the leading public transit operator in North America. And he’s accelerating even more since announcing that he’s been selected by First Transit by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. That equates to 40 million trips a year in the southern state, thanks to 400 vehicles.

The French group has also won an operations and maintenance contract in Orlando, Florida to provide transportation services for people with reduced mobility.

… and in Canada

In Canada, Transdev has just won four urban transit contracts with EXO, the public mobility authority for Greater Montreal (outside Montreal). They will be operational in a year and represent a turnover of 40 million euros per year.

In addition, the takeover has strengthened the group’s position in ambulance and school transport in Germany Kunkel Bus Lines, an Ontario-based school bus company, Priority Patient Transfer Service, a non-emergency ambulance service in the Ottawa area; and Patient Transport Services, a non-emergency ambulance service in the Winnipeg, Brandon and Carman area.

“From North to South America we continue our development. The wide variety of modes of transport that we use there makes it possible to meet the needs of each local authority,” says Thierry Mallet, CEO of Transdev, in a press release.

The total activity of the group on the American continent now amounts to almost 2.8 billion euros.

Keolis strengthens in California, RATP in North Carolina

On the part of Keolis, a subsidiary of SNCF, this is happening in California by winning a 4-year bus operating contract in Orange County, one of the main areas of Los Angeles. (209 buses). At the same time, the operator benefits from the four-year extension of its contract with Foothill Transit in the Los Angeles suburbs (Pomona network).

Keolis has offices in 21 cities across the United States as of 2010. The group employs almost 5,000 people there.

Eventually, RATP, through its subsidiary RATP Dev USA, won two new 5-year bus operation and maintenance contracts in North Carolina, in Durham and in the Raleigh area.

The company currently operates 40 public transit systems across the United States in 16 different states.