The Vélib 'in Paris will experience a price change on August 1 in order to
"redirect"
users to mechanical bikes for short trips, explained the president of the Autolib' Vélib Métropole Syndicate (SAVM) on Friday to AFP.
To read also: Smoove, tested by the failed beginnings of Vélib ', got back in the saddle and accelerates
The change made on Friday by the SAVM aims to
"encourage people to choose their bike according to their needs, with electric Vélib 'adapted for long journeys and mechanical Vélib' for short journeys"
, explains the service by email to its subscribers. Neither the price of the three subscriptions (V-Libre for occasional users, V-Plus for regular users of the mechanical bicycle and V-Max for those of the electric bicycle) nor the cost of the unit rental of the mechanical bicycle does not change. On the other hand, V-Libre and V-Plus subscribers will have to pay 1 euro more (respectively 3 and 2 euros) to rent an electric bike, which they can use for longer (45 minutes compared to 30 so far) with the price basic. For V-Max subscribers, the first 2 journeys per day are free under 45 minutes, again against 30 previously, but the races will become chargeable from the 3rd.
“Our goal is to reorient uses, to get users to turn to mechanical bikes for short races. This is the reason why there is no change (price) on the mechanical bicycle
,
”
insisted Sylvain Raiffaud, president of the SAVM.
“At the start of the year, we had a fleet of 35% of electric bikes which covered 60% of the km traveled”
.
If this electric fleet is to increase
"to 40% in the coming weeks, we need to rebalance the uses"
, explains this elected EELV.
Extension of 4 million euros
The increase in electricity tariffs contributes to the extension, estimated at 4 million euros per year until 2024, which was decided in February in an amendment to the current contract with the operator Smovengo.
This extension should make it possible to cover the additional maintenance costs generated by the overuse of electric bicycles, to improve the service and to continue its expansion to the inner suburbs.
In 2018, the Smovengo consortium took over from the incumbent operator, JCDecaux, in the operation of self-service bicycles in Ile-de-France.
But between broken down stations and installation delays, the handover turned into a nightmare for many users and the town hall headed by Anne Hidalgo (PS).
