Yego self-service scooters have taken over the streets of the pink city
You couldn’t miss it. For the past few weeks, vintage-style green scooters have taken over the streets of Toulouse. It’s about new self-service electric scooters from Yego. Installed since July 1 in Toulouse, the new operator succeeds its counterpart Indigo Weel.
>> READ ALSO: Toulouse: after the fire in a warehouse, Indigo Weel leaves Toulouse
300 devices being deployed
After Bordeaux and Paris, Yego scooters set out to conquer the pink city. A fleet of 300 aircraft has been deployed in Toulouse for a month. They belong to the operator Yego, one of the candidates selected during the Call for expressions of interest relating to the self-service and unattached electric scooter rental service of the city of Toulouse on February 10, 2022. D especially since there is a bit of Toulouse in Yego.
Indeed, three young French entrepreneurs including a Toulousain, Benjamin Viguier, are at the origin of the operator. The objective of Yego in Toulouse is to “facilitate the mobility of inhabitants and visitors to the metropolis”. All this, “ecologically and with style”. An initiative motivated by the town hall of Toulouse. Contacted by The Independent OpinionMaxime Boyer, vice-president of Toulouse Métropole in charge of traffic and new mobility, “is delighted with the arrival of these 100% electric scooters”.
How do Yego scooters work in Toulouse?
Toulouse residents can drive almost anywhere in the pink city. Indeed, Yego covers the entire hypercentre, with the exception of a few high-traffic areas restricted to parking. Furthermore, the service of Toulouse self-service electric scooters will also make it possible to reach more remote or difficult to access areas:
- To the east as far as the Halles de la Cartoucherie and the Zénith, and only a ten-minute walk from the Hippodrome de la Cépière;
- To the north as far as the Stade Ernest Wallon, the Barrière de Paris metro and with dedicated areas around the Borderouge and Balma-Gramont metros;
- To the west of the Roseraie to the Côte Pavée, passing through the Parc de la Grande Plaine;
- To the south as far as Montaudran and the Halles de La Machine, and as far as the Faculty of Pharmacy and Paul Sabatier University.
© Yego
To access the rental of scooters and free floating in Toulouse, just install the Yego mobile application, available on iOS and Android. After creating an account using their driver’s license, the user can rent the electric scooters by the minute and only pay for what they consume. The standard price is €0.29 per minute. This price includes: two helmets, insurance and a battery “always sufficiently charged”, assures Yego. Once the race is over, the user will only have to put the machine down in the places dedicated to two wheels.
>> READ ALSO: Toulouse: an association opposed to free parking in the city center
Scooters facing the challenges of urban mobility
While Yego is in full installation in the pink city, a second service of electric scooter rental arrives in Toulouse. This is the Dutch operator Felyx. “The two operators could develop 300 scooters each, for a total of 600 machines in Toulouse”, informs Maxime Boyer. And to add: “they will both be installed in September 2022”. The arrival of these two operators raises a problem of cohabitation between users in urban areas in Toulouse. Indeed, Maxime Boyer had appointed himself to The Independent Opinion last January, when Indigo Weel left:
We want to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past three years: scooters were parked on sidewalks haphazardly, hindering pedestrian traffic, and sometimes cars.
Consequently, the two selected operators will have to guarantee “respect for the public space” and “better coexistence between the different types of mobility”. In response, Yego claims to offer electric scooters with exchangeable batteries that are “clean, quiet, practical and aesthetic that perfectly meet the challenges of urban mobility”. To do this, the operator has dedicated areas for parking its scooters. “If users do not agree to these areas, parking is refused and the race does not stop”, warns Maxime Boyer. For its part, the town hall provides for a system of sanctions. “We have already started to verbalize, even place certain vehicles in the pound if necessary”, assures the deputy mayor. For its part, Yego can temporarily or permanently exclude certain users. While many Indigo Weel scooters have been the subject of incivility, Yego has developed anti-vandalism devices: wheel locks, headlights. Regarding the ecological component Yego said:
The emphasis is on repair and reuse before recycling. The scooters are designed to be fully repairable and made from recyclable materials.”
A premature departure
The renewal of the fleet of electric scooters in Toulouse follows the premature departure of Indigo Weel. As a reminder, the operator was the victim of a violent fire on the night of Monday 13 to Tuesday 14 December. One of its lithium battery storage warehouses, located in Colomiers, was completely destroyed. Although no injuries were reported, the material toll was substantial. After this fire, Indigo Weel temporarily announced its Toulouse electric scooters before officially announcing his departure last January. After three years of good and loyal service, the 300 bicycles and 500 white and purple electric scooters deployed in Toulouse were therefore on the road to new horizons.