Worldline and Citynox collaborate in the massive deployment of secure bicycle parks in France and internationally
Many installations are already in place in France, particularly in the Alès metropolitan area where 30 individual spaces have been successfully deployed.
How Alès is changing its mobility infrastructure
Alès, a city undergoing a major transformation, has just taken a new step in soft mobility solutions by installing five secure bicycle parks in the heart of the city. Thanks to the collaboration between Citynox, a specialist in secure parking solutions, and Worldline, a leader in payment solutions, these installations aim to encourage increased use of bicycles while addressing cyclists' safety concerns, such as bicycle theft prevention.
The official inauguration of the first bicycle locker in Alès took place at the end of June 2024 in the presence of Christophe Rivenq, 1st deputy mayor of Alès and president of the Syndicat mixte des transports du bassin alésien (SMTBA), who declared:
"Many citizens want to use their bikes to do their shopping or go to work, but the fear of theft has discouraged many of them. These new facilities will address this problem by offering secure and accessible parking."
The new parks, which offer 30 individual spaces for city dwellers, are designed to be practical: simply use a bank card to open one of the six boxes present in each facility. The first 4 hours of parking are free, with an attractive rate of €1 for 24 hours. Beyond this period, a maximum amount of €10 per day is applied, guaranteeing fair use of the spaces in order to avoid their prolonged occupation by a single user.
The contributions of Citynox and Worldline to the initiative
Citynox, the local company behind the design of the bike parks, highlighted its expertise in creating custom structures to meet the needs of communities in creating active mobility infrastructures.
"Our goal is clear: to offer secure parking solutions that promote the use of soft modes of transport. These installations are an important step towards a more sustainable future in Alès. We are pleased to collaborate with Worldline on this innovative system to reduce bicycle theft, which is a barrier to its deployment,"
Pierre Allais, the Sales Director of Citynox
At the same time, Worldline played a key role in providing the Open 2500 payment terminal, which manages both secure access to the bicycle locker and payment. The system works as follows:
The cyclist who wants to park his bike taps his card on the OPEN 2500 reader. A Token is then created, the box opens and the person parks his bike. When the person takes his bike back, he taps his card on the reader again. A Token (identical) is created and makes it possible to verify that it is indeed the same person (the same bank card). The price can be €0 for the first half hour for example, in which case the door opens. If the service is chargeable beyond 30 minutes for example, then the central system calculates the price, the customer taps his card again to make a contactless payment.
The bike park payment solution accepts both physical and virtual cards, including those on smartphones and smartwatches.
"Our mission is to support manufacturers and local authorities in their initiatives to modernize urban infrastructure, particularly in the field of active mobility such as cycling. Worldline is already a major player in the self-service bicycle sector, we are delighted to collaborate with Citynox to offer an innovative and secure solution to cyclists who use their personal bicycles."
Sébastien Givry, the Sales Director Mobility of Worldline Enterprise Merchant Services
How can we build a more sustainable future?
By promoting urban and peri-urban active mobility, these solutions contribute to building a greener and more sustainable future, where each trip contributes to the preservation of our environment. By investing in suitable and secure infrastructure, we encourage citizens to adopt respectful modes of transport, thus transforming our cities into healthier and more pleasant spaces to live in.