It is a service that has existed since 2019, but which remains unknown. In Poitiers and the surrounding towns, Vitalis bus users can ask the drivers to stop them between stops at nightfall, between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. As winter approaches, when night falls earlier and public lighting is reduced, the transport network reinforces its communication on this system.
A service available on 7 lines
This service is available on lines 1, 2 (A and B), 3, 13, N2 and N11, as well as on line E at weekends. It’s not just for women; anyone alone, with or without children, can make a request to the driver. On the other hand, he must be warned at least two stops in advance, because he must warn his superiors that he is going to drop someone off. Alain, driver at Vitalis for eight years, has already received several requests. He recalls that he responds to it, always favoring “Security“.”You don’t stop someone on a bend or in a poorly lit place“, he cites as an example. His colleagues, who arrived more recently at Vitalis, have for many never been asked for such a stop.
Many enthusiastic users
“Has it existed for a long time?“, asks Marie, a student on campus and used to line 1. “I think it’s a great measure, because sometimes there are stops that are quite far from home. I think it can help to reinforce a feeling of security“, she says, now informed.
Nathalie, who has always been from Poitiers, knew the principle. But this employee in the bakery, accustomed to staggered hours, has never used it: “I haven’t had the chance, but if I see insistent stares in a bus in the evening, yes, I will go to the driver and ask him to stop“, she says. She regrets that it is not known enough.
Vitalis has notably reinstalled posters at bus stops to inform users. The company hopes to regain at least a similar usage to pre-Covid, when it launches in 2019: around 20 requests per month.
Leïla, a medical student, has already used it. “Once, coming home from a party. I live on a bus line and I asked the driver to stop right in front of my apartment, and he accepted without hesitation“, she recalls.