This article is part of our “Les focuses de franceinfo” operation, which highlights key topics that are little covered in the presidential campaign: the cost of housing, the public hospital crisis, the taboo of mental health and the carbon footprint of transport.
Apart from a few dairy transport trucks and early-rising workers, the streets of Vire are deserted on this first morning of March. In the north of this small town in Calvados, along the Papillonnière roundabout, the carpooling area is still empty. With the exception of a utility vehicle parked in the drizzle. Inside, Pierre, 53, waits patiently. “Every morning, I’m the first to arrivehe smiles. I never see anyone before.” On its dashboard, the clock displays 6:34 a.m. and the thermometer 4°C. “It’s not good for the planet, but I have to keep the ignition on for the heating”he apologizes.
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This makes “a little over a year” that this driver from Vire travels with Sébastien, 34, a colleague who works on the same site located on the outskirts of Caen, nearly an hour by car. The carpooling area is ideally placed, at the crossroads of two departmental roads which run to Caen on one side and Saint-Lô on the other.
Every morning, the place welcomes a dozen vehicles, mainly inhabitants of the Virois bocage employed in these cities that are difficult to access by public transport. From Vire station, it takes 1h30 by train with a connection to reach Caen or 1h20 by regional bus against 50 minutes by car. For Saint-Lô, the journey takes 3h30 and includes two connections – far from the 35 minutes allowed by the departmental.
Still, taking the road is expensive and any savings are good to take. “Even more right now!” repeats Pierre, in reference to the rise in fuel prices. For him, waiting a quarter of an hour in the morning is not a problem. He likes to travel accompanied. Especially since it’s never him who drives, but Sébastien, who has just parked their company’s van in the parking lot.
“Before working in construction, I transported passengers. Now I am being transported”have fun Pierre climbing on the seat of the well-heated vehicle. It was their site manager who came up with the idea of this daily carpooling, and the two colleagues are delighted. “I calculated, it saves me between 200 and 250 euros in fuel per month”explains the machine driver, who says he wins “neither miles nor cents”.
“We discuss, the road goes faster and it makes a connection.”
Sébastien, construction worker and carpoolerat franceinfo
Next door, Pierre begins to look at the time on his phone with a hint of concern. 6:46 a.m., the doors of the truck slam together in the parking lot, which is awakening. Including the 40 minute drive, “when things are going well”Pierre and Sébastien will normally have time to have a coffee on the site before starting their day at 8 am.
The day dawns timidly and several cars reach the rest area, including Yohan and Hubert, 45 and 58, who park there five minutes apart. For them, carpooling is a matter of course – and for a long time. “We’ve been riding together for more than 10 years”, proudly explain the two colleagues, marble workers in a company about forty kilometers from Vire. Yohan, the youngest, often arrives first because he has to drop his children off at school first. Apart from this imperative, the two men each have a 15-minute journey to reach Vire, and above all very close timetables.
“We share the same schedule, why not share the road?”
Hubert, marble worker and carpoolerat franceinfo
Between them, the mechanics are well oiled: we alternate vehicles every week, we warn each other in the event of a big delay, and good humor is always in order. “We discuss everything, it’s a good way to start the day”, they assure. In recent years, the two carpoolers have seen their area fill up a little more each morning. “The number of cars has been multiplied by two or three depending on the day”believes Hubert “ladle”.
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Yohan’s phone rings: his daughter is sick, he is going to pick her up and will go to work on his own this morning. A taste of what awaits him, because after 10 years and thousands of kilometers shared on the clock, the path of carpoolers will soon separate. “I only have one year left before retirement.reveals Hubert, as his colleague leaves the parking lot. Yohan told me that it bothered him to continue the journey alone. He is even considering finding work closer to here…” A quick glance at his watch, a polite goodbye and Hubert sets off alone, following in the footsteps of two other cars that had parked in the meantime to pick up passengers.
In Vire, sharing your vehicle is becoming more and more of a habit. “The municipality has a solid base of carpoolersunderlines Clémentine Chanoni, president of the Mobylis association, which promotes mobility in the sector. With the price of petrol rising above 2 euros per litre, it is expected that the areas will be more and more filled.” To support carpoolers, the former municipality of Vire has marked out areas, including that of the Papillonnière roundabout, which is next to a bus stop and offers hoops to hang a few bikes.
But government action in this area “must find other forms”, believes Clementine Chanoni. “These are first of all arrangements between individuals, a very informal practice, which works very well”, she explains. For one-off trips, several open groups on Facebook allow the inhabitants of Vire to offer carpooling. The most popular brings together nearly 2,000 people who seek to travel occasionally between Vire and Caen. But concerning daily journeys, the association manager would like meetings to be organized in town centers and in the workplace.
“We thought about several concepts, such as speed-dating for carpooling candidates. This already makes it possible to overcome the fear of the unknown.”
Clémentine Chanoni, President of Mobylisat franceinfo
According to local mobility players, the obstacles to carpooling are above all psychological. “There is the fear of being late, and above all of losing one’s freedomexplains Clémentine Chanoni. But this is a false fear, because we have noticed that these home-to-work journeys have really few variations, and therefore lend themselves very well to carpooling. Another obstacle to overcome: the fear of making a long-term commitment, “both for drivers and passengers”.
On the Papillonnière rest area, not everyone has the same traveling companions on each journey. This is the case of Mélanie, 33, who waits at the wheel of her minivan while listening to the radio. It’s a little after 8 o’clock, and his passenger for the day is a few minutes late. “I always plan a little margin”, confides the one who works in the public service in Saint-Lô, about forty minutes away. It is towards this city that she offers, for a few euros, three daily places in her car via the BlablaCar Daily application, which claims more than 2 million users in France.
“Laura, Thomas, Christine, Jessy, Patrice…” In the space of six months, Mélanie has met five people, of all ages and backgrounds, who frequently ride with her. “This morning, I just have Thomas, besides, he shouldn’t be long”, she grows impatiently. Going through an app “avoid thinking too much about money” and offers a framework appreciated by the young woman, who does not hesitate to make detours to drop off carpoolers near their place of work.
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Mask on his nose, Thomas, 47, arrives two minutes later and settles in a flash in Melanie’s car. A resident of Vire, part of the National Education, he has been carpooling for two years. Before that, he took the bus to go to work in another town in the area. An ecological commitment for those who had to buy, at the same time, a large seven-seater car for their large family.
“Being all alone in a big diesel, I find it absurd.”
Thomas, executive in National Education and carpoolerat franceinfo
Like Mélanie, Thomas has the possibility of modulating “slightly” his working hours to be able to travel by carpooling and have time, once back in Vire, to do the shopping and other family activities with his personal vehicle. Both also appreciate the savings made through these shared journeys, “even if it’s not the starting point”makes a point of specifying Thomas. “There are the discussions, the practical side, I like all that”he says, buckling his belt. “I couldn’t see myself doing it any other way.”