Brutal acceleration followed by very sharp braking.
Even more than other activities, shared mobility experienced a chaotic year 2020.
But, overall, these players who operate shared bikes, scooters and scooters or practice
car sharing have
not fared too badly.
To read also: Covid-19: the French suffering from "demobility" and happy to be so
First, according to Fluctuo, which analyzes the data from these operators, the number of machines deployed in December was 5% higher than in February.
In all, this sector generated 80 million trips in France last year, for around 150 million euros in turnover.
Please note that income is not exactly correlated with the level of activity.
For example, shared bicycle services with a terminal (Velib in Paris, Velo'v in Lyon, Bicloo in Nantes, etc.) claim the lion's share for the number of races (73% of the total).
On the other hand, they weigh much less heavily in turnover (26%).
The explanation?
Subsidized by local authorities, these services are inexpensive.
In contrast,
car sharing
has not yet succeeded in achieving the expected breakthrough with 2.1% of trips.
On the other hand, this activity brings in 28% of the income from shared mobility.
No wonder that because using a car always comes at a high cost.
In fact, according to Fluctuo, operators had a mixed year.
With some highs (January thanks to the paralysis of public transport due to the strike against the pension reform, from June to September because of the good weather and the decline of the Covid-19 epidemic) and many lows ( the first confinement from mid-March to mid-May where activity was minimal, the second confinement less penalizing but still below the usual monthly averages).
These shocks did not prevent new players from getting started.
For example, Renault, which has launched its car-sharing service called Zity in Paris.
In contrast, other operators such as Indigo Weel (mechanical bikes) in Tours and Angers have stopped their operations.
Because the economic model was not there.
In another genre, Bolt, active in Paris in the VTC, made a round trip on free-floating electric bicycles: he deployed 500 in Paris in July that he removed at the end of September.
Car sharing lagging behind
This year also enabled cities to regulate these shared mobility services, especially scooters, the anarchic deployment of which had disturbed the inhabitants.
Many large agglomerations have gone through a call for tenders to limit the number of operators likely to operate these machines.
In Paris, three players were selected (Lime, Tier and Dott) who can have a maximum fleet of 5,000 units.
In Lyon, two brands (Dott and Tier) have been selected, each of which can fit 2,000 scooters.
Despite all these jerks, shared mobility operators believe that they will emerge victorious from the epidemic.
Indeed, 30% of users have turned away from public transport, considering it dangerous from a health point of view.
On the other hand, all means of transportation shared in the open air (bicycle, scooter, scooter ...) have a good rating.
Only
car sharing,
which involves driving in a closed vehicle, is in arrears.
Suddenly, the players in
free-floating
bicycles, scooters and other scooters
continued to find new resources despite the crisis.
The Swedish king of scooters, VOI, has raised $ 160 million.
Its German competitor, Tier, $ 120 million in November.
And the Estonian Bolt, $ 180 million in December.
More modestly, the French Cityscoot had raised 24 million euros in February.
Proof that investors continue to believe in this sector.