A year and a half since the launch of its car-sharing experiment in Grenoble, France, Toyota has revealed initial findings in terms of user profiles and usage.
Based on the idea that using several means of transport in combination was one of the keys to solving city traffic gridlock and pollution, the project has made available 70 ultra-compact electric vehicles, the Toyota i-ROAD and COMS, on a sharing platform called Ha:mo (harmonious mobility). These eco vehicles can be hired up to one hour before use and are located in one of 27 charging stations installed and operated by Sodetrel, a subsidiary of French energy company EDF.
The stations can handle the service’s proprietary badge or any existing public transport subscriber badge. People can use them either in a round-trip or one-way pattern, and they can be booked on a smart phone. Users can also plan their multimodal city trips by connecting to the Grenoble metropolis’ route planning service, Métromobilité.
Cité Lib by Ha:mo combines all the innovations of existing car-sharing services, adding the multimodal emphasis which is not typically found in other car-sharing services. Over 1,000 people have signed up for the service to date.
Scheduled for completion in September 2017, vehicle data and user surveys have started to reveal the first usage patterns and have reportedly been very encouraging.
June 16, 2016
