“Public transport attracts travelers within a radius of 500 meters around a stop”, explains Bertrand Affflilé, vice-president for mobility of Nantes Métropole and mayor (PS) of Saint-Herblain. Beyond that, it is more difficult to convince. From this observation, the idea of Naolib Micromob’ emerged, a self-service service of electrically assisted bicycles and scooters, intended to cover “the last mile”. It is deployed in the Chantrerie district, in the north of Nantes, and in Saint-Herblain.
“We tested it at Chantrerie, under the name Captain Bike. It worked remarkably”, considers Pascal Bolo, president of Semitan, the public transport operator in the Nantes metropolitan area and operator of Micromob’. In two and a half years, the experiment had attracted 1,800 subscribers and recorded nearly 100 daily rentals.
Sixteen stations, 60 scooters and 35 bikes
The eight stations in Saint-Herblain accommodate 20 bikes and 30 scooters; while the eight permanent Chantrerie relays house 15 bicycles and 30 scooters. The investment amounts to €300,000. The use of this fleet is limited to two areas close to the Armor (C3), François-Mitterrand (L1) and Chantrerie-Grandes écoles (C6) termini. “ Useful additions where an extension of a public transport line is not always relevant »comments Pascal Bolo.
MicroMob is accessible from a mobile application or the site micromob.naolib.fr. Without a subscription, the journey is billed at €0.10 per minute. On the other hand, holders of a Naolib subscription access the service free of charge for the first 15 minutes.
Micromob’ electrically assisted bicycles are supplied by Ecovélo; scooters by subcontractor Pony. The maintenance of this fleet is entrusted to the reintegration company Atao. Battery charging is delegated to La Poste.
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