Carpooling: how to explain the flop of the bonus and the practice?

It is aid which was put in place by the Government on 1^is January 2023, which aims to encourage the use of gentler modes of transport for personal and professional travel. In other words, ban the systematic use of the car to go to work, go on weekends, pick up your children from daycare, etc. Called “everyday carpooling”, this National Plan proposes to pay aid of €100 once a certain number of journeys have been made via a carpooling platform. Are particularly concerned Bla Bla Car Daily, Coopgo, Ecov, La roue verte, Mobicoop, Karos, Klaxit et Instant.

100€ to encourage carpooling

Concretely and to benefit from it, you must have a driving license and be registered on one of these platforms. Then, the rules change depending on whether the journey made is short (less than 80 kilometers) or long (more than 80 kilometers). For the first, you have to make ten journeys in total, for the second only three journeys, within three months maximum. €25 is paid following the first journey, and the 75€ paid once all the shopping has been completed. A welcome and rather encouraging aid, which is nevertheless struggling to make headway in France. From 900,000 carpool trips daily today, the State hopes to reach 3 million in 2027with an investment of 150 million euros. A recent survey by the Ecological Factory undermines the dynamics of this system…

A dynamic that is difficult to take

In fact, it is estimated that today, only 0.04% of daily trips are provided by carpooling. So, how can we explain that the mayonnaise doesn’t set? There are several answers to this. According to Bernard Jullien, economist specializing in automobiles, the individual car has never been so well. Travel alone in your vehicle has increased by 50% in 30 years. The French prefer to be alone in their car – or with loved ones – rather than with strangers. This is also what explains the explosion in bicycle use, to the detriment of public transport For example.

Reinvesting in infrastructure

Jean-Philippe Hermine, director of IDDRI, also explains that the current infrastructure does not encourage this practice. “Carpooling works very well in Madrid, for example, because the city has invested in carpool lanes and stations “. In the same way, carpooling is especially common in dense areas, where walking, cycling and public transport can serve as an alternative. It actually has less impact in these areas than in rural areas, where the carbon footprint of the car is nevertheless higher. The objective, according to Bernard Jullien, would be to encourage French people living in these areas to give up their second car. To do this, the State should seriously reorient its funding and its infrastructure policies…

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