Padam Mobility
How Did the Paris Region Launch the World’s Most Flexible, and Widest Public Demand-Responsive Transport?
- 40 territories
- 9 modular designs
- 1 unique app
Providing a Complementary Mobility Solution for People Living in the Outer Suburbs
Context
To stay as close as possible to the mobility needs of the Paris region residents and adapt to the diversity of the region’s territories, Île-de-France Mobilités, the Public Transport Authority of the Paris region, embarked on the development of Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT), mainly in the outer suburbs.
The mobility solution was considered ideal to provide tailor-made solutions to the inhabitants of the less dense areas as a complement to regular transportation modes such as bus or train.
Although many Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) solutions existed, they were each managed locally by a transit operator (Transdev, Keolis, Ratp Dev, etc.) and with different tools, without coherence and without a common vision.
In 2019, Île-de-France Mobilités marks its commitment to shared, integrated, inclusive, accessible, smart and sustainable mobility by setting up a single Demand-Responsive Transport management and booking centre.
Its design and deployment were then entrusted to Padam Mobility, in collaboration with Setec for engineering and Webhelp for the call centre.
From Experimentation…
In January 2018, Padam Mobility supported the set up of the first Demand-Responsive Transport feeder service to the stations of the Gally Mauldre Urban Community (Yvelines), in partnership with Transdev and Île-de-France Mobilités.
The area’s 23,000 inhabitants, spread over 11 urban communities, have 7 vehicles at their disposal on peak hours and 3 off-peak hours to access the area’s stations.
The service immediately establishes itself as a relevant mobility alternative. Cars stay in the garage and users are delighted.
The Pays de Meaux territory, in Seine-et-Marne, benefits in turn from the solution. Still under the name Flexigo, the service serves the Meaux-Poincy industrial area and includes a series of stops in connection with fixed bus lines.
Users have several ways to book their trips:
- A mobile app : TàD IDFM
- A booking website
- A phone number referring to a call centre
…To Multi-Territories
These first two experiences in Île-de-France pushed Padam Mobility to develop a new functionality: multi-territories.
Unique on the market, multi-territories allows the management, on a regional scale and on the same platform, of different Demand-Responsive Transport networks even if they cover distinct territories. It responds to the constraints of the Public Transport Authority which intervene on several areas or on a multi-operated territory by enabling to adapt the service parameters to its challenges: size, service configuration, number and type of vehicles, etc.
Faced with the multitude of Demand-Responsive Transport use cases in the Paris Region, this functionality becomes a relevant response for coordination at a regional scale.
The success of the multi-territories functionality has enabled Padam Mobility to win the call for tenders aimed at gradually extending this mode of operation to the 12,000 km2 of the greater Paris region. The objective: to integrate all use cases and potential transit operators into the most flexible and the largest Demand-Responsive Transport network in the world.
