BlaBlaCar, the French platform for ridesharing, has made its accounts: with the best fill rate in cars of its users, 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 were saved in 2018.

A study called the "Zero spaces", conducted by the consulting firm BIPE on a panel of 6884 members in eight countries, has led to this conclusion. The calculation takes into account the direct savings of CO2 and indirect savings, such as "carpooling informal inspired by BlaBlaCar". The average occupancy of a car is 1.9 passengers per vehicle, and going to 3.1 when two passengers have booked, and even 3.9 if a friend or family member of the driver is also now on board.

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The study reminds us that 95,3 million journeys have been made in 2018 thanks to the platform, which is equivalent to the production of 2.17 million tonnes of CO2. Without BlaBlaCar, 3.06 million tons of CO2 would have been generated. And in a year, the direct savings of CO2 related to car sharing with BlaBlaCar has reached 894.000 tonnes. Two other factors - subject to security - are addressed: the fact that drivers followers carpooling would be more cautious and reduce their speed and checking the tire pressure. Would this save 15.200 tonnes of CO2. The authors of the study have imagined a scenario "black" without BlaBlaCar. In this case, 5 million trips would not have taken place but the volume of emission of CO2 would have been the same. In projecting into the future, BlaBlaCar account by 2023 prevent the emission of 6.4 million tons of CO2.

Combine the offer of carpooling and buses

According to the study, the carpool would also have an impact on the behavior of users. Thus, among the passengers, 36% do not have a driving licence and 28% of them reject the prospect of the move because they don't see the usefulness.

Now, BlaBlaCar (70 million members in 22 countries) will combine its offer to carpool with his network BlaBlaBus, cars Ouibus redeemed to the station, and soon re-baptised. The first to view this livery will run in Belgium or in Luxembourg. "There will be no cannibalization between the car and the car, provides Nicolas Brusson, co-founder and ceo of BlaBlaCar. We have experienced, especially during the strike of the SNCF in the last year, while we had the platform available to operators of buses".

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In 2019 BlaBlaCar has planned to develop BlaBlaLines, its service for carpool from home to work and drive his bus in Europe. "We could be profitable this year, but we have chosen not to invest", says the boss of the unicorn French.