After a first plan launched by Elisabeth Borne in 2019, and difficult Covid years for carpooling, the government wants to give a new boost to this practice, which limits traffic jams and pollution. Fourteen measures are planned in total, of which three main ones will mobilize 150 million euros.
Even if the practice has been democratized for several years, carpooling is still too little used for the executive.
► 900,000 daily trips made by carpooling
Of the 100 million daily trips made by car, at least 900,000 trips are made by carpooling, informal or organized via the many platforms available. The government wants this number to increase to 3 million in a few years.
Home-to-work carpooling, in particular, has only really taken off in a few cities and large companies, which are already setting up bonuses. Indeed, every day, more than 8 out of 10 trips are made with a single person in the vehicles according to a Vinci study published in September 2022.
► The average distance of a carpool trip is 24.93 km
According to the National Carpooling Observatory, the majority of carpooling trips are over short distances, between 0 and 20 kilometers. However, the longest journeys increase the average distance, which reaches 24.93 km for an average time of 30 minutes.
Île-de-France is clearly at the top of the top 10 territories where carpooling is the most used, followed by the metropolis of Rouen and Montpellier. The most carpooled routes, on the other hand, are Annecy-Switzerland, Rouen-Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray or Nice-Monaco.
► Peak trips are made at specific times
By listing the trips made by carpooling, the national observatory indicated that the trips made are most made between 7 and 9 a.m., then between 5 and 7 p.m., which generally corresponds to the hours of the home-work journey.
► Young people are more users of carpooling platforms
According to figures from BlaBlaCar, one of the flagship platforms in organized carpooling, the under 40s represent the largest battalion of registrants. In detail, 27% of users are 18-24 years old, 26% are 25-29 years old and 26% are 30-39 years old.
► The government’s objective: saving energy and money
If the objective of 3 million daily carpool trips is reached by 2027, 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year can be saved, explains the government. This is the equivalent of 1% of France’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.
The executive assures motorists who allow themselves to be convinced that they will at the same time save an average of €2,000 per year.