To meet the 2030 target set in France’s National Low-Carbon Strategy an average of 1.75 people per vehicle the number of carpoolers will need to increase significantly. VINCI Autoroutes helps facilitate this shift by adding free carpool parking facilities at the entrances and exits to its network. At end 2024, 59 car parks, six of which opened during the year, were in use, totalling over 5,000 parking spaces. An additional 20 or so car parks will be created in the coming years in partnership with regional authorities.
VINCI Autoroutes also collaborates with local authorities to develop multimodal transport hubs connected to their public transport networks. One example is in Longvilliers, south-west of Paris, where express coach services are available to transport A10 users via a special lane on the motorway to the RER train network, which connects them to the heart of the capital. The creation of public transport lanes on motorways is also being trialled on the A10 north of Bordeaux, the A11 near Nantes, the A8 between Sophia-Antipolis and Nice, the A51 between Venelles and Aix-en-Provence, and the A68 towards Toulouse.
Following on from a working group at Leonard, VINCI’s innovation and foresight platform, a consortium led by VINCI Autoroutes launched a project that seeks to operate fully autonomous smart electric shuttles on the motorway, driving at up to 90 km/h with capacity for around 15 passengers. The trial, the first of its kind, will enter the operational stage in 2025, running along the same routes as the express coach connecting the Longvilliers multimodal transport hub to the Massy RER station in the Greater Paris area. The project includes a robust supervision and intervention system, as well as smart, connected infrastructure able to assist the shuttle buses through tolls and in joining the motorway.
Furthermore, VINCI Autoroutes, operating as part of a consortium with VINCI Energies, Ecov, Nokia Bell Labs and Cerema, the French public expertise centre for research on the environment, launched the Trapèze project, which was selected in the fourth Investments for the Future Programme France 2030. The aim is to develop, test and approve a pilot for new shared mobility services in real-world conditions on existing infrastructure. The project involves a network of intersecting carpooling routes with connections to public transport lines as well as a regulated lane with two types of restrictions on the busiest roads and motorways: upon joining the network to ensure the highest occupancy rates and traffic flow; and in-lane control to regulate traffic conditions by synchronising speeds with other users in order to optimise driving conditions and guarantee minimum journey times.
