In an effort to encourage carpooling (covoiturage in French) as a cost-effective and environmentally advantageous way of driving, motorists in France who regularly take passengers on their way to work will receive a €100 bonus in 2023, the government announced Tuesday.
The plan was conceived in 2019 but was set back by the pandemic. The government now wants to boost the practice, which lowers traffic as well as pollution. “The bonus is intended to promote carpooling,” stressed the Minister for Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher. “In addition to the positive climate effects of this measure, it is a response to the increase in fuel prices.”
The bonus will be paid to new registrants on carpooling platforms that are carrying out local journeys of less than 80 kilometres. €25 will be paid on the first journey and an additional €75 euros if nine further journeys are made in the following three months. An additional bonus of €100 will be granted to motorists who make three long-distance journeys.
These minimum sums will be paid directly by the car-sharing platforms, which will determine the details. The bonus may also be awarded in the form of vouchers. The aim is to increase the number of monthly trips from the current 900,000 to three million within a few years.
With 50 million empty seats in circulation every day, tripling the number of carpoolers would avoid 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year, according to the Ministry of Transport.
