Following the launch of BlaBlaBus and the partnership with Air France to facilitate airport transfers, BlaBlaCar is now getting ready to enter the scooter market. Indeed, the famous carpooling platform has just announced this Tuesday 26th May 2020, “a strategic partnership” with the Swedish start-up Voi Technology, while remaining two independent entities. Zoom on the stakes of this new alliance.
After BlaBlaBus, BlaBlaLines, make way for BlaBla Ride
Known as a multimodal player, BlaBlaCar has made its mark in long-distance carpooling, home-to-work carpooling and inter-city bus lines. Today, it wishes to extend this offer by integrating micro-mobility, with the help of Voi Technology. Currently deployed in four French cities (Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux), the Voi scooters will be renamed “BlaBla Ride” on June 5.
On Voi users’ side, no change. As stated in the press release, they will be able to “continue to use the service as before, with the new BlaBla Ride brand identity.”
En route to an intermodal offer
According to the press release, the final objective in the coming months for BlaBlaCar and Voi Technology will be to “integrate electric scooters into the platform’s transport offer”. Indeed, BlaBlaCar users will be able to connect with their profile to the BlaBlaRide application to unlock a scooter if they wish to. The goal: To make “the first or last kilometre of their journey by carpool or bus”. And thus achieve a real “door-to-door journey”.
As pointed out by Nicolas Brusson, co-founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar “Voi and BlaBlaCar have a common enemy: the inefficient use of the car. By joining forces, we can take another step towards smarter and more virtuous urban mobility… Scooters and micro-mobility can transform the way people live, work and travel in cities, just as carpooling has transformed long-distance travel.” Indeed, these two mobility players have the “ambition to offer a scooter service in major French cities that is reliable, responsible and respectful of the environment and local regulations”.
During this health crisis, many resolutions in terms of sustainable mobility have emerged. In particular, soft mobility and micro-mobility. As noted by Fredrik Hjelm, CEO of Voi Technology, “In a context where cities need more than ever intelligent, innovative and responsible alternative mobility solutions, BlaBla Ride will respond to these challenges”. In the future, according to Nicolas Brusson, BlaBlaCar’s ambition is “if it works, to get into electric bikes, and potentially explore other markets.” To be continued, so…
