Do you know why the inhabitants of Beauvais carpool more than those of Lyon, even if they are twenty-five times less numerous? Because the Community of Agglomerations of Beauvaisis subsidizes home-to-work carpooling in some 53 surrounding municipalities. While the Metropolis of Greater Lyon encourages carpooling, it does not pay the driver of the vehicle: it is up to its passengers to do so.
And that makes all the difference. Because “even with a liter of fuel at more than 2 euros, motorists do not see their economic interest in cost sharing alone”, explains Julien Honnart, co-founder of Klaxit, European leader in home-to-work carpooling. “It is necessary that the trip be subsidized by the community so that motorists give up their vehicle and become passengers in that of another”, insists the one who passionately campaigns against solo driving.
Without public subsidy, the economic interest of local carpooling is not obvious
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By signing an agreement with Klaxit (which organizes carpooling), the Community of Agglomerations of Beauvaisis takes charge of the driver’s remuneration and pays him between 2 euros and 4 euros for each passenger transported. Passengers pay nothing. “Accommodating two or more passengers allows you to hope to cover the other costs of the vehicle (insurance, maintenance, depreciation, etc.)”, argues the agglomeration, which thus hopes to convince more inhabitants to give up their car to go to the work.
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And it works. Wherever local authorities have voted for subsidies, carpooling is developing at breakneck speed. founder of Ecov, the first company in France to offer real-time contact between drivers and passengers.A lock was lifted by the vote of the LOM on mobility, at the end of 2019, which encourages conurbations to sign partnership agreements with carpooling operators.
To get into mores, carpooling requires a strong financial incentive, paid for by the community
“A forty conventions have been signed to date, thirty of which have been contracted with Klaxit”, says Julien Honnart with satisfaction. These include Montpellier, Metz, Rouen, Angers, Mulhouse, Monaco and Beauvais. Many have had to wait until the lifting of health restrictions to take effect. The oldest was signed in October 2017 with Ile-de-France Mobilités. And despite ups and downs, this region alone still provided 57% of carpooling trips in France (all platforms combined) in February. In March, this proportion had already fallen to 48%, following the signing of new agreements in the regions.
More than the rise in fuel prices, it is therefore public subsidies and the LOM law that are increasing the ranks of daily carpoolers. The first quarter figures provided by Data.gouv show that local carpooling is not far from returning to its record of 560,000 monthly trips recorded in February 2020. This was before the first confinement and the tumble to 33,000 trips in April. “Two years later, the average is approaching 400,000 monthly journeys,” says Julien Honnart. In March alone, the number of shared trips over short distances jumped by 54%, all operators combined.
Home-to-work carpooling still only represents 1% of daily journeys in France
The increase is spectacular, but local carpooling still only represents 1% of daily journeys in France. The room for improvement is therefore vast. “From 5%, there will be a runaway effect”, predicts Julien Honnart. “The practice will be accepted and there will be a word-of-mouth effect which will make carpooling a standout as an alternative to the bus, bicycle and solo driving”, prognosticates the one who thinks that this critical threshold will be achieved “in two or three years”.
An objective shared by Ecov, which strives to convince motorists to “share their journeys as if they were taking the bus, without reservation”. Enough to fill the gaps in public transport in rural and peri-urban areas. The icing on the cake, passengers are not the only ones to save money because, at the same distance, carpooling is “2 to 5 times cheaper for the community than a bus”, argues Thomas Matagne.
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