Hybrid mobility between bus service, private driver and carpooling, Totoom has been offering a new service since August and has just opened a new line.
We act in complementarity with public services while providing something innovative: we offer a door-to-door transport service – we pick up the person at home, in their business or at the hotel -, decarbonized and dematerialized” .
Transportation on demand
Jean-Marc Dardalhon is one of the founders of Totoom, a transport company which defends “shared, eco-responsible” mobility in areas where there is a lack of public transport. Totoom connects rural areas to metropolises in order to offer an alternative to the use of individual cars.
In August, the company launched a new service: low-carbon, economical, on-demand transport in rural areas (TADER) for which the company is subsidized by the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion.
Four daily lines, with five round trips, have been set up: Le Puy – La Chaise-Dieu, Le Puy – Aurec-sur-Loire, Le Puy – Les Estables and Le Puy – Langogne – which ultimately allows to serve 90 municipalities between Haute-Loire and Lozère. It is, for example, possible to take the shuttle at La Chaise-Dieu and stop along the way at Saint Paulien.
“It is an inclusive mobility service, due to its moderate prices and door-to-door delivery. However, our vehicles are not suitable for people with reduced mobility (PRM): electric vans cannot be approved due to the position of the battery. But we must not lose sight of the fact that four out of five disabled people do not need an adapted vehicle, but rather support. Communities offer on-demand transportation to disabled people with an adapted vehicle. We come in complementarity.”
Jean-Marc Dardalhon (empty)
And added: “Inclusiveness goes beyond just disability, it also concerns people in precarious situations.”
The TADER is starting slowly, because it is still confidential. “The service is profitable if we transport 2 to 6 passengers per trip, but it is little known. Communities are best placed to make it known and change habits,” observes Jean-Marc Dardalhon.
A new Clermont – Lyon line
When it was created, the Totoom company launched the Regional Express Shuttle Service (SNER), which allows passengers to be transported over long distances whose terminus must be a TGV station or an airport.
For the past year, it has offered nine daily round trips (for example: a first departure from Puy-en-Velay at 3:45 a.m. for Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport at a price of 65 euros per person). Last week, a new service was launched. It connects Clermont-Ferrand to Saint-Exupéry airport in Lyon via Saint-Étienne. “There is a problem following the elimination of the train between Clermont-Ferrand and Saint-Étienne. We are expected in Clermont-Ferrand,” notes Jean-Marc Dardalhon.
Today, Totoom has six employed drivers, a fleet of five electric vans that can accommodate up to six passengers, seven days a week. Since April 2024, the company has transported 2,400 people between Le Puy and Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport. .
Nathalie Courtial
Reservations. They are possible via the Totoom application; on the totoom.fr website; or by telephone at 07.71.10.02.45.
