Padam Mobility
Introduction
According to the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME), 50% of the companies’ CO2 emissions come from commuting and business travels. Cars remain the preferred mode of transport: in France, three quarters of these trips are made by car, with an occupancy rate close to 1.
However, cars represent:
- A cost for the employers (fleet contracts, work accidents, etc.). It is estimated 10% of work stoppages are related to daily car commuting.
- A cost for the employees (parking, fuel, insurance, etc.). The car is the 3rd source of household expenditure. The average annual budget for a private car is around 5,000 euros.
Taking employees’ mobility into consideration by proposing more ecological and sustainable alternatives to private-owned cars is a win-win bet for companies and public authorities.
For the past 2 years, Padam Mobility has been actively supporting these stakeholders in facilitating the travels of their working populations through the implementation of tailor-made Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) services.
In Pau, Madrid or in Lyon, Padam Mobility DRT solutions have been able to adapt to local issues and constraints to improve the mobility of working populations, reduce their dependence on private cars or increase their autonomy in their travels. Focus on these three success stories.
Context
Padam Mobility’s client is a multinational company operating in the aeronautics industry. It is based 15 kilometers from Pau, but remains within its urban area. With a workforce of almost 5,000 employees in 2018, it is a major employer in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. The company’s plants were originally served by some twenty regular bus lines with fixed itineraries and schedules.
For 10 years, these lines, which represented the only alternative to cars to get to the site, saw a continuous erosion of their riderships:
- Service hours must be guaranteed to correspond to the specific working conditions of the employees (hourly shifts, ⅜ shifts, etc.).
- The fixed lines did not serve the employees’ residence places, or served them poorly. Most of the bus stops were located too far from their homes.
- Travel times were considered to be too long, especially for employees who did not live near the factory site.
- The service had a bad image.
The incomplete coverage of the site and residential areas by existing public transit lines led to the gradual abandonment of public transport for commuting in favour of private cars. 70% of the company’s employees were willing to use the bus, but only 12% of them used it, mainly for lack of other choices.
