The Parisian market for self-service electric bicycles is welcoming a newcomer.
From this Thursday, the French company Pony is offering 500 free-floating bikes in the capital.
The type of service set up by this young company based in Angers (Maine-et-Loire) stands out compared to its competitors Lime (ex-Jump) and Vélib '.
The Pony bicycles, which can be unlocked via the smartphone app, are not distributed throughout the intramural capital.
Pony has chosen to deploy them only along two cycle routes, corresponding to lines 1 and 13 of the metro.
1.90 euro per half hour
Pony is thus concentrating its fleet on the two lines of the “vélopolitain” network, designed by cycling associations.
“The vélopolitain is a set of secure cycle paths, identifiable thanks to specific signage, which reproduces the metro lines on the surface.
It was designed by several cycling associations in the capital and was set up by the Paris city hall following the first confinement, ”Pony recalls.
Bicycles will be available on the arches of the public road, between Gare de Lyon and Porte Maillot (line V1 of the Vélopolitain) as well as between Porte de Vanves and Porte de Saint-Ouen (line V13).
Advantage for customers: Pony offers a fare equivalent to that of a metro ticket, ie 1.90 euros per half hour.
On the condition of course to pick up and drop off your bike only in authorized areas, on these two axes.
The associations Paris en Selle and Mieux move à bicyclette (MDB) offer a “Vélopolitain” network of fifteen cycle paths that follow the metro lines on the surface.
/ Paris in the Saddle
Two-seater electric bikes this summer
“By positioning its bikes along key axes, Pony intends to create a transport system as reliable as the metro or a personal car.
Every morning, Parisians will be able to find an electrically assisted bicycle less than 100 meters from their usual metro station, ”underlines Pony.
It remains to be seen whether this innovative model will meet the needs of the Parisian clientele, used to traveling all over the capital.
The bike offered by Pony was developed by Zoov, a Ile-de-France company, already established on the Saclay plateau (Essonne) and in around twenty cities around the world.
This summer, Pony will also be offering two-seater electric bikes, the “Double Pony”.
"Thanks to a seat, toe clips and a non-directional handlebars, it will offer new possibilities for cycling in the city", announces the operator.
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The capital should finally have another service by the beginning of the summer, with the deployment of electric bikes from operator Dott, now manager of 5,000 electric scooters.
Announced for March, they should finally arrive a little later due to manufacturing delays linked to the Covid-19 health crisis.
