Starting from July 4, some users of public transportation in Nice will be able to travel using subsidized Uber rides. This is an experiment conducted in partnership with the local public transport operator, Régie Ligne d’Azur (RLA), which will last one year and will focus on tram line 1.
The ride-hailing platform Uber has signed a partnership with the public transportation company of the Nice metropolitan area to offer subscribers fixed-price rides in the evening, where buses no longer run.
Between 8 PM and 2 AM, the 50,000 public transport subscribers will be able to make a journey equivalent to one of these bus lines to a tram station (or vice versa) for a fixed price of six euros.
If they are in one of the geographic areas covered by the experiment, users of the Uber mobile app will see a new option appear when selecting the desired type of service, in addition to Uber X and Berline: Lignes d’Azur.
“It’s a joint effort by Uber and Régie Ligne d’Azur. We compensate the driver’s fare at a price that can normally cost more than double,” stated a spokesperson for Uber. Specifically, Régie Ligne d’Azur will individually offer its subscribers the option to take advantage of this offer, she clarified.
Alexandre Droulers, the mobility projects manager for Western Europe at Uber, considers it an opportunity to “develop a modern transport alternative and a complementary offer to existing public transport.”
This innovative project is an interesting pathway to make demand and supply in public services more flexible and balanced, a sort of service à la carte.
And then there’s the economic aspect – how much do bus rides with few passengers cost? Isn’t it better to integrate the cost of an Uber ride, which takes you home with more safety at stake?
Municipal opposition member Patrick Allemand quickly responded: “This new offer, which provides more flexibility, can at first only delight, but it also marks the end of any growth prospects for public transport services. It might even harbor a decline in public service on existing bus lines after 8 PM.”
