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RésuméRéalisé sur la base de l’analyse d’expériences françaises, étrangères et internationales d’indicateurs du développement durable des transports, ce travail montre la pertinence d’une lecture des outils proposés, fondée sur la recherche des postures argumentatives qui les sous-tendent. Trois postures sont ainsi repérables au sein de ces divers travaux : une posture intégratrice visant à l’internalisation des effets externes des transports ; une posture critique, d’inspiration environnementale, interpellant le monde des transports à l’aide de critères externes à ses préoccupations premières ; enfin, une posture globalisante et désincarnée, abordant les transports au travers d’une approche de développement durable d’une nation. L’intérêt analytique de ces trois postures a été confirmé par la mise en évidence des arguments échangés à l’occasion de quatre expériences de participation du public. En conclusion, l’article appelle à mieux définir les modes de gouvernance auxquels s’adressent les expériences d’indicateurs, afin que ces derniers participent plus activement à l’enrichissement des débats portant sur ces politiques publiques structurantes.

Indicators for sustainable transport development and concertation with the general public: strategic postures and arguments. This work is based on a literature review and analysis of sustainable indicator proposals for transport policies from different countries and international organizations. Its aim was to propose an approach to qualify these experiences. Indicators are drawn up in support of a particular posture, a characteristic which is relevant for our analysis. Several political postures were found to underlie the production of indicators and their uses. We highlighted three argumentative postures. An integrative posture which seeks to internalize social and environmental externalities, its aim being to optimize transport policies. A critical posture which argues for a more reasonable and less aggressive transport policy. This posture is often environmentally-based. Last, a global posture based on the sustainable development movement at national or international scales. These experiences deal with different development aspects, transport being only one of their concerns. We were able to demonstrate the analytical interest of these three postures in a study of four experiences of public debate. To conclude, our paper calls for a better definition of the governance contexts in which the sustainable transport indicators are used. The indicators proposed in the experiences studied relate to different postures within the same framework of debates and are difficult to use in describing them. Working on the governance context is essential to ensure a proper use of indicators that will enrich concertation and debates among actors.