Lyon changes all its Vélo'v in one night, a snub on Paris Vélib '

A show of strength of JCDecaux. They were thrown from Paris, they proved in Lyon that they were still the champions of self-service cycling. Faced at the fiasco of Vélib 'Paris JCDecaux teams performed a small technical feat in the night of July 17 to 18 in Lyon: replace the 4,000 Vélo'v of the first generation by new. A revenge of Lyon on Paris, the time when the capital beamed with his Vélib '.

Lighter weight of 2.3 kg, more maneuverable, equipped with an electronic locking device that allows to leave the bike safely in outside a hook and equipped with a contactless reader to recover without pbading through the station, the new Vélo'v is at the forefront of urban mobility.

Let's go the deployment of 4,000 new #Velov on the @grandlyon All night, 120 employees of @JCDecaux_France are on the ground pic.twitter. com / CPqx3y3WrY
– Benjamin ARNAUD (@ArnaudBenj) July 17, 2018

"This is a technical and industrial challenge that we have been holding for a few months – a bit of your World Cup final to you", Pascal Chopin, JCDecaux regional director for Rhône-Alpes, launched the 120 employees gathered before the launch of the deployment on Tuesday evening.

The excitement was palpable. In the warehouse located in Villeurbanne, thousands of red bicycles lined up waiting for them to be picked up.

A symbolic victory for the "Walkers" against Hidalgo

The world leader in outdoor advertising with 3.5 billion turnover in 2017 has kept the Lyon market until 2032, after losing that of Paris against the consortium Smovengo, which is bogged down in the deployment of its offer for six months. A comfort after the loss of the global window of JCDecaux's self-service bike activity

The success of Vélo'v in Lyon is also a symbolic victory for Collomb and the "Walkers" who [19659002] prepare to confront Anne Hidalgo in Paris during the municipal elections of 2020 . Lyon shows its good management alongside JCDecaux, when the difficulties accumulate for Smovengo in Paris.

On the side of the Metropolis of Lyon, one "welcomes the reinforcement of Vélo'v, very dear to Lyonnais", says Pierre Hémon, delegate advisor on active mobility. The rapid deployment of a new fleet of bicycles with new features, while ensuring continuity of service, was a commitment of the renewal contract between the Lyon metropolis and JCDecaux. Concerning the situation in Paris, Pierre Hémon is a good player:

"I do not wish them what happened to them, but that will not happen in Lyon, we have been working on it for a long time."

45 % of Vélo'v financed by JCDecaux

The renegotiation of the contract, including the publicity display in the public space of the Metropolis and the Vélo'v, with JCDecaux "was not easy", admits Gérard Claisse, Vice President in charge of public procurement.

" They were the only ones really in the place, their first offer was clearly out of order for us, but the switch was made when they lost the market in Paris, it became essential for them to

"So we ended up with an interesting offer, with the same resource conditions as before, or even a little more favorable," he says .Therefore 640 street furniture and 2,500 bus shelters rented to advertisers to finance 45% of the Vélo'v service, the rest being provided by users

These changes are accompanied by a tariff increase For subscribers, the first thirty minutes remain free of charge, but use per day increases from € 1.50 to € 4. The normal annual subscription has been increased from € 25 to € 31 and 15 to € 16.50 for young people under 25 years of age. rate for the beneficiaries of the RSA remains him at 15 euros. 59022] The first user of the new #Velov at terminal 10002 in front of @insadelyon pic.twitter.com/8BtKe6uC9c

– Benjamin ARNAUD (@ArnaudBenj) July 17, 2018

On the first station to receive the new red bikes, located on the campus of the Doua, the first users seemed delighted Tuesday night. Pierre, a 20-year-old baker, has traveled 5 kilometers since the Croix-Rousse with a former Vélo'v for the sole purpose of testing the new one: "They are very beautiful and at the same time lighter and more manageable", estimates -he. Hugo, a 22-year-old student, goes to a party. He is impatient to "discover the contactless device to recover the bike, it will really make things simpler."

73,000 subscribers to the service Vélo'v

This step follows a first on May 29, with the introduction of the new computer system and the launch of a digital application to book remotely with his smartphone.

And all this with an increase in subscriptions. "They are 73,000 today against 68,000 at the end of May," said Pascal Chopin, JCDecaux's Rhône-Alpes director, who does not hide aiming for a much higher goal by 2020, of the order of 100,000 subscriptions.

In addition, since June 30, Lyon Métropole and JCDecaux have been offering a long-term rental service. Renting rather than self-service is the choice made by other cities in France such as Grenoble, which met with great success with Métrovélo. 100 electric bikes are already available in the bike shops. 900 additional bicycles will be added by the beginning of 2019.

The service will be strengthened by the deployment of 1,000 additional Vélo'v between 2019 and 2020. The number of hooks on all stations will also increase to two for a bike, to allow better rotation and better regulation. An extension of the park to 21 municipalities of the metropolis is planned, as for example in Bron and Saint-Priest, where is the campus of the University Lyon 2 and its 17,000 students.

Electric bicycles with portable battery [19659010] Finally, through a contract signed with the French battery manufacturer Forsee Power, JCDecaux will soon be offering Vélo'v with electric badistance. With a subscription that should amount to 7 euros per month, a portable battery will be left available to the user to connect to his Vélo'v. 1,000 electric-powered bicycles will be gradually installed by JCDecaux

A "future" choice that Jean-Charles Decaux, chairman of the executive board of JCDecaux and co-CEO, unhesitatingly calls "revolutionary".

"You will see that everyone will do as we do.This portable battery, which can be used to charge your smartphone or other electrical device, will encourage a new public to take the bike", ad-t -he.
"The only brakes left now are the rain and the bicycle layout."