Some 3,000 additional Vélib' will be deployed in Greater Paris by the 2024 Olympic Games, the Autolib' Vélib' Métropole union (SAVM) announced on Wednesday December 21.
"
This increase of almost 20% of the fleet will benefit all users by reducing the frequency of use of each bike and improving their distribution throughout the network
", indicated the elected representatives of the SAVM in a press release.
Four years after a nightmarish handover between the Smovengo consortium and JCDecaux, the incumbent operator, with stations under construction or closed for months, the service is still decried by many users: unusable or defective bicycles, faulty electric assistance, stations empty or full … So much so that the elected officials of the SAVM, a mixed union bringing together communities and public establishments which finance the network, had expressed at the end of January “
their persistent concern
” vis-à-vis the service.
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By 2024
Smovengo confirmed "
a few days ago
" the order for more than 3,000 additional Vélib' which will be deployed by 2024, constituting "
a fleet in line with the number of bicycles expected by elected officials since 2018
", said the SAVM on Wednesday.
The objective is for Vélib' to be able to "
contribute to achieving a modal share of bicycle use for serving the Olympic sites of 10%, without penalizing its regular users and while also serving the tourist sites, which will be more frequented during this period
, ”says the union.
Pop-up stations could be set up at Olympic venues for this purpose.
The SAVM has also launched an audit of the service which should last until the beginning of 2023, before “
an overhaul of the economic model of the service
”.
"
There should be no taboos, all aspects must be studied: the financing of the service, the number of stations, the share of electric Vélib'
", indicated Sylvain Raifaud, president of the SAVM.
