The impressive figures of electric scooters in Lyon
Perhaps you are one of the third of the Grand Lyonnais who used a self-service scooter in 2021? According to the data provided by the two Lyon operators, Point and Stagethe number of unique users of self-service electric scooters in Lyon will be nearly 430,000 in 2021 (250,000 for Dott and 180,000 for Tier).
However, it is necessary to take into account the fact that a more or less important part of these users are tourists, and not only inhabitants of the Metropolis. But impossible to know the exact share of non-Lyonnais for the operators. Manon Pagniez, responsible for Dott in Lyon, however, thinks that an approximate distribution of 90% locals and 10% tourists.
“This mode of transport is becoming centralsummarizes Hervé Rivano, professor at Insa and specialist in networks in digital cities. There was a fashion image at the beginning but the trend is settling. The operators arrived at the right time, when the scooter trend emerged, and they are still there. »
4.6 million trips
The number of trips made by scooters in Lyon amounts to around 4.6 million in 2021 (3 million for Dott and 1.6 million for Tier). Thus, a Dott user made an average of 12 journeys in 2021, and nearly 9 for a Tier user. With high earnings between regular users and day customers. Manon Pagniez indicates that 70% of Dott users make more than one trip per week, and 50% of trips are made with packages.
Faced with these impressive figures for an agglomeration the size of Greater Lyon and its 1.4 million inhabitants, the operators specify that a single person cannot, or almost, represent several unique users. “It is not possible for a single person to designate multiple unique usersassures Franck Guerniou, Tier manager in Lyon. Unless the nominative user account, the basis of our calculation, is stolen. »
“A unique user is a person who has made at least one tripsays Manon Pagniez, from Dott. A person can have several telephone numbers: in 2021, we did not have the possibility of identifying him. But today, with identity control, the ID card can only be used on one account. »
Short distances and leisure transport
As far as the distances traveled are concerned, they are practically equivalent for the two operators in Lyon. At Tier, the average distance traveled on an electric scooter ride is 2.8 kilometers. For Dott, it is 2.3 kilometers. Same observation for the average duration of a journey: it is 12 minutes at Dott and 11.5 minutes at Tier.
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“These self-service scooter systems have brought out new usesexplains Hervé Rivano. There is a utilitarian use, to shorten the distances between home and work for example. But there is also a dimension of leisure, as at the beginning of Vélo’v: we reclaim the urban space for pleasure. Scooters are part of this new mobility, for which there is no need to own a means of transport, it is available in the urban space. »
Unsurprisingly, the Presqu’Île and the 3e arrondissement (Part-Dieu) are the most popular neighborhoods for users of self-service scooters. Tier specifies that its stations with the most departures and arrivals are those of Bellecour, rue Pizay (Hôtel de Ville) and Part-Dieu station.
Young peril
Hervé Rivano also sees a generational and social dimension in the use of electric scooters. “Young people are the most concerned: from a practical point of view, this mode of transport meets less the needs and availability of people with children, for example. And the scooters do not remain only in the bourgeois centers. I even think that there is greater use by people from working-class neighborhoods. The wealthiest have bought their own scooter. »
This use by young populations could create dangerous situations, even accidents. “New users don’t know the codes, some have never encountered trafficsays Hervé Rivano. And if things are going better today, there remains a global question on the place of the car, which can create reports of tensions in the public space. »
Read also on Tribune de Lyon: Teenagers killed on scooters in Lyon: less than ten witnesses heard in the investigation
Operators Dott and Tier believe that 2022 should be even more favorable to them, given that 2021 was interspersed with confinements and curfews linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. Tier thus recorded 250,000 unique users between September 2021 and August 2022, i.e. 70,000 more than for the whole of 2021. Despite the accidents and the regulations of the town hall, it would therefore seem that Lyon’s electric scooters would still be beautiful days ahead of them.