Marrakesh, a pioneering city as regards environmental protection, set up the very first bikeshare scheme in Africa on the occasion of the COP22 that it hosted in 2016.
This bike solution is complementary to a public transport service and provides an effective 24-hour-a-day way of allowing people to get around for a reasonable investment by the cities themselves and at a cost that is adapted to the level of income of each citizen.
Smoove is proud of assisting cities wanting to improve the quality of life of their citizens by offering ecological and economical mobility solutions. Since then, Tunis and Abidjan have expressed their wish to reboost their public transport systems and rise into the world ranks of green cities. This wish has been materialized in Lagos (Nigeria), where Smoove has won a bid to set up its 200 bikeshare project in 2018.
Smoove participates in a long-term approach to transforming Africa’s urban landscape. For a decade, French firm Smoove has been offering innovative, smart and connected bikeshare solutions to support the development of soft mobility. Today, Smoove is present in 28 cities and 14 countries, including Morocco, operating 9,000 bikes altogether.
In 2018, Smoove will have more than 30,000 connected bicycles worldwide thanks to the launch of its flagship product: electrically assisted bikeshare. Smoove’s solution is a hybrid one: a standard bicycle can be converted into an e-bike by installing a battery in the frame and incorporating a motor into the front wheel. Docking stations lock the electric bicycles securely in place and recharge their batteries. Once fitted with a “Smoove box”, the bike becomes smart and connected.
User authentication is performed with an RFID public transport network card reader, an NFC-equipped smartphone or a simple code. This revolutionary embedded technology means the end of saturated docking stations, because it allows a bike to be parked even if no spaces are available, thanks to the “overflow” facility.
Smoove endeavors to offer a very high level of service: bikes that are ultra-secure, tough and designed for optimal user comfort. The city and the operator retain full control over the deployment and layout of their network, and are free to adjust the system to ensure optimal management of public spaces and smooth traffic flows.
Connected to the digital era: Smoove box, a comprehensive information system (operations management, customer monitoring, operational monitoring) and full digital offering (website and mobile app). Patented triple security: a “padlock fork” to secure the bike at the docking station, a neiman steering lock and a cable incorporated into the handlebars.
Optimal management of public spaces: high-density modular stations requiring very little civil engineering work. These are approved and controlled by the city council and can be installed along public highways.
Robust equipment for urban use by the general public: puncture-proof tires, double-wall aluminum frame and rims, as well as tamper-resistant wheel nuts. – Optimal user comfort: 26-inch wheels, a comfortable adjustable saddle and a customizable front basket. Smoove wishes to extend its urban mobility offering to other African cities.
Municipalities and companies interested in forming a collaboration can contact Smoove to discuss a flexible offering which includes technical solutions as well as support in financing and operating installed bike fleets.
Smoove is set to become the world leader when it comes to e-bikeshare systems integrated into urban mobility networks, thus contributing more than ever to the reduction of CO2 emissions. Smoove’s connected offering places it at the forefront of smart mobility, both today and for the future. www.smoovebikeshare.com
