After many months of putting the new generation Vélib’ service on the road, the operator Smovengo is now struggling to overcome its logistical maintenance problems. Result: very damaged bikes and almost empty stations. A situation deplored by the Syndicat Autolib’ Vélib’ Métropole (SAVM) which “requires a rapid improvement in the quality of service”. An audit could be launched soon.
And the elected officials of the SAVM are clear: in a press release, they “express their persistent concern vis-à-vis the current execution of the Velib ‘Métropole market”. “The service delivered is not at the level expected for a public service of this scale and does not provide a satisfactory user experience,” they lament, calling on the service provider to quickly improve the quality of its service.
Because the least we can say is that the service is not up to par. In the field, the bikes are almost all damaged, if not downright unusable, and users are sometimes forced to go to several terminals before finding one available. A situation mentioned in the last report of the users’ committee. And this, according to the SAVM, despite corrective actions and the recent injection of 2,500 new bikes.
Worse, according to the union, “breakdowns were detected on the electric assistance of almost all of the new Velib'” which still affect to this day “the user experience”. The SAVM is asking for the implementation of “a lasting solution”, while the “technical palliative” put in place “at the end of December” is no longer enough.
Vélib’ “cannot stay at the current level”
“Four years after the contract was awarded to Smovengo, the service does not offer a smooth experience to its nearly 360,000 subscribers”, deplores the union chaired by Sylvain Raifaud, who recently communicated on the quality of service of Vélib’ which, according to him, “cannot stay at the current level”. “All options are on the table,” he wrote recently on his Twitter account, ensuring “expect significant efforts from Smovengo”.
One of these options is to financially sanction Smovengo, according to Le Figaro. A penalty of 9.7 million euros would already be considered but would risk sinking the group. In any case, this is what the operator advances: a “blackmail on filing for bankruptcy” according to Sylvain Raifaud.
The anger of the elected official is all the stronger since the union had agreed a year ago to release an envelope of 12 million euros, or 4 million euros per year until 2024, to cover the important maintenance costs related to the overuse of electric bicycles as well as to ensure the ordering of new bicycles.
The other option would be to end the contract. If this does not seem to be under study yet, it is still brandished by the president of the SAVM, who provides as a last resort the launch of an audit in the coming weeks, the results of which are expected in the fall. . “I do not exclude any track, including the termination of the contract, the resumption of the service in management or in delegation of public service (DSP)”, thus informed Sylvain Raifaud in Figaro.