“Month -free month”
Proud Vaudois to have left their car in the garage
The operation ended in Epalinges, Lausanne, Montreux, Vevey and Yverdon on a very positive assessment.
In Yverdon-les-Bains, self-service bikes were part of the alternative offer to the car (illustration).
KEYSTONE/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT
The challenge of “Month -free month”organized by the Mobil’homme office and supported by the canton of Vaud, ended in the municipalities of Epalinges, Lausanne, Montreux, Vevey and Yverdon-les-Bains. At the time of the first reports, the experience has proven to be very positive for the majority of participants.
In Yverdon, 38 people aged 22 to 68, using their car daily, had taken up the challenge. Several applications had to be refused, for lack of places. “Apart from one or two people who cracked, the others did not use their car for a month,” rejoices Co-Syndique Carmen Tanner with Keystone-ATS.
In exchange for their car, participants had free access to various alternative mobility services, according to their needs. A CFF or Mobility discovery subscription, the provision of a muscle or electric bicycle, or even the care of deliveries costs with large distributors were among the options, cumulative as desired.
Bike and public transport
“Most of the bikes – muscle for the most part – and public transport have been very successful,” observes Carmen Tanner. On the other hand, the DRING DRING DRING delivery service has not been activated, because they are perceived as intended for the elderly. “We are going to have to carry out a campaign to explain that this is not the case” continues the ecologist.
In Lausanne, 39 participants from 23 to 72 years old were committed to giving up their car. They had in common a motivation to “develop their travel practices”, explains Florence Germond, municipal in charge of mobility, in Keystone-Ats. Their reasons, on the other hand, were varied: “ecological, economic, practical, comfort, health or even reduction of stress”, lists the socialist.
Almost all participants, 34 out of 39, asked to benefit from a CFF subscription, and 25 of them from an electric bicycle. “These two services have been widely used,” says Florence Germond.
Easy to hang
In practice, with a little anticipation, it turned out to be “very easy” to go to a car without car for pendulum journeys, says Carmen Tanner. The situation was however more complex for leisure trips. “This is where to give up your car has the most consequences,” she said.
Self -operating, possible for leisure mobility, has not been imagined. In Lausanne, although half of the participants asked for access to Mobility, the use of this service “seems to have been relatively limited,” says Florence Germond.
The observation is the same in Yverdon, where only two participants used it. “This service is deemed not easy because it is necessary to use another car than your own. And despite its gratuitousness as part of the challenge, its costs seem too high, ”explains Carmen Tanner.
In terms of lifestyle, the challenge has involved greater anticipation on the part of the participants and reduces their sedentary lifestyle. Participants with a podometer saw their number of their daily steps increase, underlines the Yverdonnaise.
Enthusiastic feedback
The challenge having ended between the end of May and the end of June, depending on the municipalities, it is still too early to have final conclusions. The first returns are however “overall positive, and the approach arouses a strong interest”, welcomes Florence Germond. In Yverdon, returns are also “very positive”. “I was very affected by the pride of the participants to have taken up this challenge,” adds Carmen Tanner.
In Vevey too, the balance sheet is described as “exciting”. At the end of the month “the vast majority of participants wanted to reduce the use of his car, without necessarily parting it,” wrote the city in a press release. Participants also noted that “experience has changed their relationship to time, that it has sometimes been a real discovery and that it was particularly well lived”.
A follow -up questionnaire will be sent to participants in six months, to better assess the impact of the challenge over time. The lessons from returns in the various municipalities will be synthesized in a report at the end of the summer.
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