REGIONAL STUDY OF SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY THEMATIC: ELECTRIC MOBILITY REGION: Picardy (France)
BEST PRACTICE 2 THE EXAMPLE OF BEAUVAIS PICARDY REGION (OISE)
Waiting for more information of our local partners, these are few examples of sustainable urban mobility project in Picardy. These are mostly initiatives and measures to accompany the refitting of commercial vehicles that maintain roads and green spaces. There are not a lot of electric mobility project in urban transportation in Picardy. Only two cities, Beauvais and Amiens have tried to develop such projects. Because of the lack of sustainable mobility in Picardy, this issue will maybe become a key priority in a near future. In Picardy, on the initiative of the ADEME agency (Agency for the Environment and Energy Management), a call for expression of interest will be initiated concerning electric charging structure. One of the key issue will be the standardisation of the electric charging mode. Electric bus service in Amiens 2004 the ADEME (Agency for the Environment and Energy Management) had launched a project called 100 electric buses in order to boost these field in France. 18 projects were selected for a total fleet of 70 electric minibuses. In France, large electric buses are rare and mostly leave room for electric minibus. Amiens city s project was selected and a new bus service for public transportation was created in the town centre. Bus line 58 was working thanks to 4 buses Oreos 22E, with a service rate of 10/15 minutes. Speed of the vehicles reached 33km per hour for an average rate of 9.5 km/h. Amiens was the third town to experiment the use of such vehicles. After 2 years, this bus service was stopped because of battery defaults encountered. In fact, the memory effects of the batteries were too important and charging cycles dropped substantially. Batteries had to be charged several time a day and this caused service problems. Operating costs were too high for a low quality of service. Moreover, this bus service concerned a small service in the town centre, because of the short capacity of the battery. Because of the above-mentioned battery issue, the project had to be aborted. Since, Amiens wishes to develop a global approach for sustainable urban mobility: Proper studies are led to create a TCSP service (Transport en commun en site proper or Green public transportation strategy) in Amiens. Local debate with the population will soon take place. City representatives are studying each possibility (Technical feasibility, financial help, etc.). Today remains the questions of the transportation mode: Tramway or reserved bus lanes for a high transportation service. Pieto + was also an initiave that encounters the same battery issues. Despite the attractivity of this free transportation system, the project might not exist any longer. Pag. 5
Other cities of the Picardy are today interested to implement electric transportation services: SENLIS (Oise) The city of Senlis wants to provide their transportation fleet with OREOS 22 buses in the town centre. But today, the project is still not running: the traffic in the historic town centre is complicated to organise and damages could be caused. CREPY-EN-VALOIS (Oise) Within the framework of the PDU (Plan de Déplacement Urbain or urban mobility plan) policy, the city of Crépy-en-valois also would like to start an electric bus service. Electric mobility: The example of Beauvais Picardy Region (Oise). BEAUVAIS - Oise (60) 56 382 inhabitants Beauvais Global approach fort sustainable urban mobility Implementation of a policy to reduce transportation emissions and improvement of air quality in urban area. Regulation policy and reduction in car traffic Policy in favour of electric mobility The PDU (Urban transportation plan) is a voluntary work for a town of less 100 000 inhabitants. The urban transportation plan is under development in Beauvais. Development of green transportation 30km of cycle paths Bicycle parking Bike rental Revision of traffic plan Revision of parking plan Etc. Policy and incentive scheme for the use of electric cars Free parking for electric car on special parking spaces is under consideration. Creation of charging infrastructure etc. Projects to support electric mobility to come : Pag. 6
Purchase of electric bicycles and Pedelec electric bikes for municipal authorities. The use of electric vehicles in the municipality fleet 12 electric cars: 9 two- or three-wheeled vehicles, 3 commercial vehicles, 4 lightweight vehicles. Training 94 agents to the eco-driving. Management mode: Car-sharing Promotion activities: Incentive to use electric cars Training to drive electric cars Public transportation : 3 electric buses are used in the network. It represents 10% of the fleet. To purchase 2 electric buses each year until 2016 Bus Vanhool new A330 hydride du réseau urbain Corolis crédit photo Ville de Beauvais Organisation, innovations and initiatives Activities involving the use of electric vehicles: 2005: creation of a little fleet of motorbikes (scooters) for the municipal employees. (350 agents) A fleet of Pedelec electric bikes will be spread on the territory for the use of the local authority. A partnership through a service contract is foreseen in order to implement the provision of Pedelec electric bikes to the public. Pag. 7