When the Metropolis of Rouen regulates carpooling for passengers
Since mid-September, the Rouen-Normandy Metropolis has decided to move up a gear in terms of home-work carpooling by opening up to the general public an experiment reserved since last year for a few companies and major schools in its territory. Almost 3,600 people had access to it since the start of the 2020 school year for around 15,000 journeys made.
The principle ? Thanks to a partnership with Klaxit, the equivalent of a “BlaBlaCar” for this type of trip, the local authority pays the driver instead of “carpooling”, at least until the end of the year. At a rate of 2 euros per passenger for the smallest journeys (less than 20 kilometers), and a few tens of cents per additional kilometer with a ceiling of 4 euros, the driver-sharing can therefore hope to recover a few tens of euros each month.
“There is a real need to accelerate on the alternatives to autosolism which is not improving, to put it mildly, ”assures Cyrille Moreau, longtime environmentalist and vice-president in charge of environmental issues within the community. “Today, home-work carpooling represents 1 point in part modal of trips in our territory, or around 10,000 trips per day. We would like to double it, or even triple it in the years to come, ”continues the elected official. “Obviously, this will not make it possible to reduce the use of the car, but it must be taken as one of the tools of a more global plan which also includes the development of public transport, the long-term rental of electric bicycles …”
“A real boost”
A fourth-year student at INSA Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray (Seine-Maritime), an engineering school on the Rouen left bank, Hugo is one of the drivers to have tried his hand at experimentation since Last year. “It’s a friend who took place with the flyer that explained the system. At the beginning it was even a little hard to believe it, ”explains the young man who assists in the parking lot of his school Marion, Mona and Mila, his three passengers of the day. Over a large month, he has already felt nearly 240 euros. “On average, it’s more like 140, 150 euros, but there is also the confinement which limited the journeys. It doesn’t compensate for all the costs, but it’s a real boost. “
For him, this system is more flexible than public transport. “And we took the reflex to use it for outings. He is aware, however, that if his passengers have to take money out of their pockets, the financial windfall would undoubtedly be much lower.
“We will take stock at the end of the year with the expansion of the system to the general public. We have budgeted 100,000 euros for this period, ”explains Cyrille Moreau. “And we have other avenues to boost carpooling, such as the establishment of reserved lanes for those carrying passengers, materialized carpooling stops, etc. “