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car2go operational in Lyon
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 The city of Lyon in France has just launched its car2go scheme, thus becoming the first French city to benefit from this car-sharing initiative. There are 200 cars operating in Lyon, all of them low emissions smartfortwo models, produced by Daimler which is one of the companies behind car2go, in collaboration with rental company Europcar. Commenting on this initiative, Gérard Collomb, Mayor of Lyon and President of ‘Grand Lyon’, said: “Innovative urban mobility solutions like car2go offer a way to help meet the challenges of urban congestion, reducing carbon emissions and improving quality of life. Following the actions we initiated in 2005 with Velo’v, the first self-service bike sharing system, Lyon is innovating again with car2go, a new approach to car sharing which is complementary to other initiatives enabling our residents to move around town”.
Because car2go operates without fixed pick-up and drop-off points, those using the scheme can locate the available vehicle nearest to them via the internet or a variety of smartphone applications. At the end of use, drivers leave the car in any public car parking space within the perimeter of operation of the scheme. Parking in these spots is free to the driver.
Lyon residents can register on-line or at an office, and costs are 14.90 Euros to register (once and for all) and then 0.29 Euros per minute, 12.90 Euros per hour or 39 Euros per 24 hours. Philippe Guillemot, CEO of Europcar Group, pointed out that a survey by his company showed that 47% of European urban drivers are considering giving up their cars and 61% of them consider that cars available in self service are an attractive mobility option.
Up to now car2go has already been successfully launched in seven cities: Ulm and Hamburg (Germany), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Vienna (Austria), Austin and San Diego (USA), and in Vancouver (Canada). The German city of Düsseldorf is to follow soon.
| 02/02/2012 | Tim Harrup
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Registration 
