Nantes Métropole, Semitan and Transdev have devised an experimental service allowing customers of the Chantrerie district in Nantes to complete the last kilometer of their journey on an electric bicycle or scooter. The trial started in mid-October for a period of 2 years with the Captain Bike service created by the companies Écovélo and Knot.
A total of 20 bicycles and 20 electrically assisted scooters will be available at 6 stations interconnected with the Nantes transit network.
Practical information on the service:
- use via the « Captain Bike » mobile application;
- the service will initially be free for all customers, within the limit of 15 minutes, sufficient time for trips given the size of the area. Beyond the 15 free minutes, a rate of € 0.10 per minute will be applied;
- vehicles are located by GPS chips to prevent attempts to leave the perimeter of the Chantrerie and to analyze uses;
- the use of the service is limited to the perimeter of the Chantrerie. Bicycles and scooters will be borrowed and returned to the 6 stations made available.
This experiment could change every three to six months (prices, scope, number of stations, number of bicycles or scooters) depending on customer feedback. About twenty customer-testers were recruited to try out the service a few days before its commercial launch and thus participate in its evaluation and areas for improvement.
Captain Bike, river shuttle… new “mobility hub” at the Chantrerie
Located in a preserved environment, the Chantrerie sector has experienced strong economic and urban development in recent years. Between 2018 and 2025, more than 4,000 new users will visit the site daily (+ 62%).
The new Captain Bike service essentially responds to the so-called « last mile » issue, that is to say to easily serve the district from line C6 and line E5 located in the southern part and promote micro-mobility throughout. the area. The stations are thus placed along the main north-south axis.
Customers who can benefit from the new service include:
- employees and students who make the trip every day by public transit and who then need to go to their place of study or work;
- residents located to the north of the district, such as high school students who need to join public transit routes;
- residents and organizations located in the Chantrerie: higher education establishments and businesses.
Finally, the experiment meets the needs of local actors involved in sustainable development issues, in particular with the AFUL Chantrerie Association.
This experiment also responds to the development of active modes to relay public transportation. Expectations were formulated during public workshops organized with residents, employees and students as part of the « Chantrerie Mobilité Durable » initiative initiated at the end of 2018 by Nantes Métropole and local stakeholders. The objective of this approach was to find and then put in place individual and collective actions to improve the mobility of users of the district, in a context of urban and economic development.
LEMON, the Nantes metropolitan area’s mobility experimentation laboratory, was launched as part of the 2019-2025 public service delegation contract with Transdev for the public transit network.
Since 2019, it has brought together Nantes Métropole, Semitan and Transdev around a program of shared innovations to think about the mobility of tomorrow and in particular to promote the use of public transportation. LEMON’s ambition is to test every year until 2025 in real conditions, a new innovation imagined by and for citizens.