Captain Bike

Nantes, the Tan network and Transdev, have launched the experimentation of Captain Bike, a new electric bicycle and scooter service. Born from a cooperation between Ecovélo and Knot, Captain Bike will make it possible to link the Chantrerie district, which is not crossed by public transport lines, to the neighbouring bus services.

This 24-month experiment has three objectives:

  • the first is to provide keys to understanding the needs related to the adoption of micro-mobility based on the observation of a community of users;
  • the second is to assess the degree of complementarity between micro-mobility and public transport
    and finally,
  • the third is to identify cases of modal shift between private vehicles and collective mobility.
Vélos et Trottinettes Captain Bike

A continuous listening and evaluation phase has been set up since the launch of the project in October 2021, taking several forms:

  • a group of beta testers of about twenty people recording their experiences daily in a logbook;
  • a Whatsapp group for all customer feedback;
  • several series of field observations and “hands-on” workshops and finally qualitative and quantitative surveys.

The numerous insights provided allowed the service to evolve 6 months after its launch: new distribution of bicycles and scooters, extension of the usage perimeter with the creation of 3 stations, simplification of the customer journey with a new ticketing system via the Libertan card and an increase in the fleet.


The experimentation is continuing in order to confirm and further develop the use of the various targets identified – employees, residents and students. Customer feedback has been very encouraging.