Worn out by the strike, the Vélib 'network wants to raise the bar. After seven consecutive weeks of strike at the RATP and the SNCF which has resulted in frequentation of the service "two to three times above the average", the Vélib 'Métropole union announces this Monday the "implementation of an action plan to improve availability of bikes and increase their number in the field. ” The union promises to deploy "750 additional bikes each week to first reach 16,000 bikes on the ground in March, then 19,000 the following months".
16,000 bicycles is more or less the size of the fleet of bicycles claimed by the operator just before the strike launched on December 5. The contract between Smovengo and the joint union, however, plans to reach at least 20,000 bikes. But more than two years after taking over, the consortium formed by Smoove, Indigo, Mobivia, Moventia has not achieved this objective. "Out of 11,000 Vélib 'in the street, 80% work," declared Jacques Greiveldinger, general manager of Smovengo, to the Parisian at the start of January.
3000 new bikes injected
The duration of the social movement explains this significant reduction in the fleet of bikes in running condition. "During this strike period, each day on average, 130,000 races were carried out by 80 to 100,000 different users, on Vélib 'which, with 15 daily uses, achieved in 45 km (against 15 km)", underlines the operator.
"This unprecedented attendance, the unpredictable duration of the strike, the random opening and closing of transmission lines, requests to close stations for demonstrations or the difficulties encountered by Velib agents in getting around and carrying out their missions in the field were all factors that impacted the quality of service. ”
At the request of elected officials - and thousands of users - a specific action plan has been put in place with the objective of "increasing the number of bikes available at stations and better regulating the park".
The itinerant maintenance teams are on the ground "to repair light faults (tires, chains) as quickly as possible". Smovengo announces the gradual arrival of "3000 new bikes will increase the number of Vélibs available on the ground at a rate of 750 additional bikes each week". Finally, the operator is preparing "a new fleet regulation strategy, following the mapping of stations in chronic deficit or surplus of bikes".