Daily carpooling: why Toulouse is well placed, but far from the most efficient cities
According to the latest figures from the Carpooling Barometer, Toulouse is one of the leading cities that carpool the most on a daily basis. The support of communities appears crucial to encourage motorists to take the plunge.
Toulouse, 4th city in France for its population, and only 9th for the number of journeys made daily by carpooling? Toulouse, a metropolis of 800,000 inhabitants, overtaken by Rouen, Montpellier, Angers? This is the reality of the figures from the “Barometer of carpooling”.
10,000 journeys in Toulouse, compared to more than 67,000 in Rouen
In October 2022, just over 10,000 trips were made in Toulouse by users of carpooling applications, compared to more than 67,000 in Rouen. These figures come from data transmitted to the Ministry of Transport by smartphone applications, around twenty in total, the best known of which are BlablaCar Daily, Klaxit or Karos, and which connect motorists, according to their daily journey.
Toulouse in the Top 10, but far from the lead
Why does Toulouse appear in the Top 10 with more than 10,000 journeys in October, but also far from a city like Rouen, at the top of the ranking? Quite simply because Rouen Métropole journeys are subsidized by the community, which bears their cost 100%, and are therefore free for passengers. An effective incentive policy, which seems necessary to encourage motorists to share their car to go to work. But who “false” the figures and the ranking, according to Olivier Binet.
“The carpooling market is separated into two worlds”
“The carpooling market is separated into two worlds. Toulouse plays in the category of cities where users pay for part or even all of their journey, unlike many cities at the top of this ranking, where the cost of carpooling is around zero euros for users, explains the boss of the ‘Karos app’. The absence in the Top 10 of cities like Bordeaux, Lyon or Lille, where carpooling is not subsidized at very high levels, confirms this. They are far behind Toulouse, with around 3,000 to 8,000 daily carpools.
In Toulouse, carpooling aid is “reasonable”, with a refusal of complete free travel
In Toulouse, Tisséo Collectivités entered into a partnership with Karos. But no question of free. “We have an agreement that within the scope of our partnership, in the Blagnac aeronautical zone and in Montaudran in particular, employees pay the price of a public transport trip (€1.70)”, explains Olivier Binet, managing director of Karos. But free? “No, there is no reason for carpooling to be cheaper than public transport. The community has decided otherwise, and that is completely normal”.
This is not the opinion of the director of development of Klaxit, another heavyweight in carpooling apps, and at the origin of this “Barometer” which highlighted largely subsidized cities.
“Daily carpooling needs help from local authorities”
“The development of daily carpooling required this support from local authorities. supports David di Nardo. It makes the difference, so that people who live in areas that are little or poorly served by public transport, take the plunge into carpooling”. This support, permitted by the Mobility Act of 2020, thus reaches 1 million euros in Rouen Métropole (at the top of the ranking), or 400,000 € in Beauvais (4th). Cities such as La Rochelle, Metz, Annecy or Nantes are thus ahead of Toulouse in the carpooling rankings.
625,000 passengers in October on the apps, not counting informal carpooling, between neighbors or colleagues…
Subsidized or not, carpooling remains an excellent way to save money, and to pollute less, its primary goals. In October according to the “barometer”, 625,820 passengers were transported, 1.6 million euros and 20,072 fill-ups were saved. And that’s without counting on informal carpooling, between neighbours, colleagues, or parents of students.
Carpooling apps, how do they work?
Thanks to the Occitanie Region, since early November, for each home-to-work journey of less than 30 km made between two towns in the region, up to €2 will be covered in order to encourage the development of carpooling. In Occitania, nearly 80% of workers went to work by car. To benefit from this incentive, you must download a carpooling application, and indicate your home and work addresses as well as your schedule for the week. The application connects members who take the same route at the same times. Meeting points are offered automatically, without detours for the driver and with the minimum of walking for the passenger. The driver receives compensation of €2 to €7.5 per journey and per passenger, depending on the distance travelled. For journeys of less than 30 km, thanks to the support of the Occitanie Region, journeys cost a maximum of €0.50 for the passenger.