2024-02-17 15:51:59
By Julien Da Sois
Publié here à 12:10, Mis à jour here à 16:51
BlaBlaCar indicated on Friday that it planned to add “around ten additional buses” this weekend to “keep up with demand”. Batard Patrick / Batard Patrick/ABACA
Bus and carpooling platforms saw their reservations explode during this weekend of strike by railway company controllers, in the middle of the winter holidays.
The strike of SNCF controllers leaves “150.000 Français» on the tile. They “won’t be able to leave†in vacances car “They haven’t necessarily found solutions”, regretted the boss of SNCF Voyageurs Christophe Fanichet Friday evening on BFMTV. Of this number, many have resorted to alternative means of transport. The car of course, but also the bus or carpooling. “There is a doubling of demand for carpooling and buses” following the strike at the SNCF, said the founding president of BlaBlaCar Frédéric Mazzella Thursday on Franceinfo.
For the BlaBlaCar bus offer, the increase in reservations “is particularly important on the Paris – Rennes, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes, and Lille axes”, observed the French platform on Wednesday. She indicated Friday that she intended to add “around ten additional buses” pour “meeting demand”, notably from Paris to Rennes, Toulouse and Marseille. Friday, there were carpool spots left, she said. “We had a peak in offers, carpooling proposals, (…) drivers who, out of a sense of solidarity, offered their places”indicated Nicolas Michaux, spokesperson for BlaBlaCar, Friday on Sud Radio.
Another bus operator in France, the German company FlixBus makes the same observation. “In terms of reservations, we are on an increase of between 15 and 20% for this weekend compared to what we expected for this period”assured Europe 1 its spokesperson, Charles Billiard, affirming that many journeys were already full.
Read also: Strike of controllers: passengers are bearing the brunt of the numerous SNCF bugs
+39% searches for plane
However, this increase in demand does not come without an increase in prices. To the great dismay of travelers, many of them are complaining on social networks about the prices proposed during this strike weekend. “Out of curiosity, I looked at how BlaBlaCar prices had evolved to be able to return from Paris. It’s between €40 and €50 per trip to travel in the back of a 208 or a C3 for 500 km…. yeah well no! », says one of them, for example. On FlixBus, the cheapest journeys remaining for a Paris-Lyon for example this weekend are offered at 60 euros, compared to around twenty euros on average usually. On these increasing prices, FlixBus explained to La Dépêche du Midi that prices depended on demand and competition.
A competing mode of transport with the train, the plane is also benefiting from this weekend’s SNCF strike. There was thus a 39% increase in searches for the plane on the Liligo comparator, its spokesperson Guillaume Rostand said on BFMTV on Friday. For journeys between Paris and Lyon, some travelers have turned to SNCF’s competitor on the rails, the Italian company Trenitalia. Its Spanish rival Renfe, also present in France, could also benefit from it.
”
data-script=”
>
#BlaBlaCar #FlixBus #Trenitalia.. #SNCF #strike #benefits #competitors