The Lyon Metropolis is going to experiment for a year with the implementation of electric self-service cargo bikes, of the type with two bike racks. If the price is attractive on paper, the user journey to renting a model has been made a bit more complicated.
In December 2022, persistent aisle rumors suggested that the Métropole de Lyon would be the first in France to roll out self-service electric cargo bikes. A few months later, the City Council made the news official in a press release published on its website.
Since Thursday March 16, Lyon and Villeurbanne have welcomed twenty electric CargoVélo’v, progressively deployed in car parks reserved for them, without anchoring points. The municipality declares:they must be taken and rested in the same placeafter each user trip.
d’app an app
To take advantage of it, it is necessary to respect a user route that is not the most practical. You have to download the Vélo’v app and then find an available CargoVélo’v. So far, so good. When selecting a model, the app redirects you to the Cargoroo app from which you must create an account to finish the rental.
Cargoroo is a Dutch operator and official partner of this project. So it was logically integrated into the rental process, even if it would have been more practical to book your two-wheeler directly from CargoVélo’v. It’s a small detail that shouldn’t be a deal breaker either.
✅👉 Starting March 16, 20 electrically assisted cargo bikes will be deployed and parked in specific locations, in the immediate vicinity of the Vélo’v stations.
😏 Some have lately kept an eye on the preparation of these stations.
—Bruno Bernard (@brunobernard_fr) March 15, 2023
The rates for this service are attractive: 8 euro cents per minute, or 4.80 euros per hour for the transport of one or more children, purchase of food or specific equipment. As a reminder, the freighter deployed here is of the double aircraft carrier type: its nose gear is lengthened to accommodate a cargo box.
A one-year pilot project
The council further states that:Vélo’v teams will ensure daily operation and maintenance, in particular the monitoring and recharging of the batteries of these cargo bikes, as well as customer relations“. This project is experimental, with a duration of one year and interspersed with an evaluation 6 months after its start-up.
Below is the complete list of stations that offer a CargoVélo’v:
- Aveyron (Lyon 1)
- Croix-Rousse/Perfetti (Lyon 1)
- Meissonnier (Lyon 1st)
- Saint Anthony/Grenette (Lyon 2nd)
- Guichard Square (Lyon 3)
- Paul Bert/Garibaldi (Lyon 3rd)
- Place Saint-Anne (Lyon 3)
- Lumière Institute (Lyon 3)
- Aristide Briand Square (Lyon 3e)
- Bertone Square (Lyon 4e)
- Philippe de Lassalle/Pillement (Lyon 4)
- Carpet Square (Lyon 4th)
- Edgar Quinet Square (Lyon 6e)
- Lafayette/Inkermann (Lyon 6e)
- 7 Town Hall (Lyon 7)
- 8 Town Hall (Lyon 8)
- Charpennes (Villeurbanne)
- Villeurbanne Town Hall (Villeurbanne)
- Totem (Villeurbanne)
- Recognition Square (Villeurbanne)
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