After Mont-Dore, the city of Nouméa set up maritime shuttles on July 10 between the Moselle bay, the Nouville peninsula and the Numbo bay. The results of the operation are positive, according to the Caledonian Energy Agency. Rotations could resume in Nouville, for the start of the 2025 school year.
The Caledonian Energy Agency pilot project was launched on July 10, in New Caledonia. After Mont-Dore, maritime shuttles were set up in Nouméa, between the Moselle bay, the Nouville peninsula and the Numbo bay.
An emergency system, to deal with the crisis and the lack of transport in the territory. A journey set at 100 CFP francs per passenger to Nouville, and 200 francs to Numbo. Two lines open, for a period of three months.
The rotations stopped on October 8. The opportunity to take stock of the system.
The figures for the shuttles:
- 5,820 passengers transported,
- 1,344 journeys made,
- 36% boat occupancy,
- a day without travel due to the weather,
- 80% of journeys made to Nouville,
- 87% of tickets taken on site (not reserved).
The service could be continued. “Today, this experience has shown that there may be an interest in continuing maritime shuttles, mainly to Nouville. There is significant interest in the morning and evening schedules from students, but also from local residents”, explains Jean-Christophe Rigal, deputy director of the Caledonian Energy Agency.
“The idea now is to continue the experience on a larger scale for the start of the school year in February 2025. With a shuttle that could transport more passengers, ideally around thirty. The difficulty is being able to pass under the Nouville bridge, so thirty passengers would be the good compromise. This would allow us to lower the cost of transport.”, indicates Jean-Christophe Rigal.
So far with ten passengers, the cost of transport per passenger with several round trips over the period, “oscillates between 500 and 800 francs. If we want to make this transport system sustainable, we must increase the volume to reduce costs.”, continues the director of the Caledonian Energy Agency. Its members are hopeful of offering the system again for the start of the 2025 school year.in association with the University of New Caledonia“.
Total cost of the experiment: 19 million CFP francs. With revenues of around 700,000 francs.
The Numbo line, on the other hand, was used much less. “Numbo was much less frequented, due to the fact that the actors in the area mainly came from Païta. For them, it is complicated to get from Païta, on the Moselle to Nouméa, to take the boat again and then go to Numbo. If we had to relaunch an experiment, it would rather be to go and find the people in Nouré in Païta. And to transport them from Nouré, to Numbo, or even to Moselle”, continues Jean-Christophe Rigal.
