AutoCité + : an additionnal car for less starts up on november 2

A new mode of transport appears on november 2nd in Angers : the car sharing. Called Autocité+, it makes accessible to subscribers 15 cars, private and commercial vehicles, available in six stations of Angers downtown : Poissonerie, Imbach, Saint-Serge, Sainte-Croix squares but also in Chevreul and May 8 streets. To beneficit of Autocité +, the subscriber must pay 15 € per month, during three months at least. To book a car, the subscriber may use internet, phone or a smartphone app. If a car is available in the nearest station, the Autocité+ 's user gets the car within a few minutes. The service is accessible to private persons as well as professionnals.

The showing to AutoCité+, at Imbach square (Credit : Angers city)

According to the manager of the company implementing the service on behalf Angers, the Société d'aménagement de la région angevine (Sara), Laurent Fouillet, "it costs 2,60 € per hour plus 0,36 € per km covered". And "till 10 000 kms per year, to use Autocité+ is cheaper than using his own car". All is included in the price, the gasoline, the maintenance, the washing and an assistance 24 hours a day. Moreover, a card is in the car if the user has to gas up.

The promotor of Autocité+ points out that, according to the Agence de l'environnement et de la maîtrise de l'énergie (Ademe) the property of a car in town is very costly : 4 500 € per year for a small urban model. Autocité+ is part of the development of "soft transport modes" along with buses, tramway, bicycle and walking. It could be fitted to a new consumption trend whichwould consist in the use of a product or a service without its possession what is true in the co-renting of flats or the carpool. But it also be suited to the economic circumstances weighting on the budget of Angers households.