Carpooling: the government considers its bonus effective

The financial incentives implemented to promote carpooling are already bearing fruit. This is at least what the government infers from the increase observed in January.

To encourage French people to share their cars, the government launched a carpooling bonus of €100 in 2023. The scheme, which is part of a broader carpooling plan, has apparently received a very positive reception (more so than the fuel subsidy, at least). With more than 800,000 daily carpool trips recorded in January, the authorities are very satisfied with the results, showing a significant increase compared to January 2022 (230,000 trips).

Over the course of a month, daily carpooling — meaning short-distance trips — has increased by 30%. The government believes that measures from the carpooling plan have played an important role in this growth. According to its figures, nearly 20,000 drivers have already completed the necessary steps to receive the €100 bonus.

“I commend the success of the carpooling plan, already visible one month after its implementation”, said Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister for Ecological Transition. We must continue along this path by supporting drivers, passengers, local authorities, and businesses to help them take the leap. Carpooling is an excellent example of sobriety where, by changing habits, we improve our purchasing power while limiting greenhouse gas emissions”.

A nuanced assessment?

In its latest report, the National Carpooling Observatory precisely recorded 783,721 shared trips in January 2023. While it considers this increase “encouraging”, it also notes that the practice remains marginal and that the January figures may have been artificially inflated by strikes in public transportation.

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