New Vélib’: a troubling decision

JCDecaux is surprised to learn of the decision made by the Autolib’ Vélib’ Métropole union's Tender Committee, which selected the bid submitted by the SMOOVE SAS- MARFINA SL - INDIGO INFRA SA - MOBIVIA GROUPE partnership for the Vélib’2 competitive tender.
 
JCDecaux’s initial reaction is for the 315 men and women who have dedicated their expertise and professionalism for the past 10 years to make Vélib’ the success that it is today. Despite the multiple requests of the JCDecaux/RATP/SNCF partnership throughout the procedure, the new operator has not agreed to automatically work with the same teams. JCDecaux will make every effort to see that it does.
 
These teams have contributed to making Vélib’ the largest self-service bike rental scheme globally, making it a full-fledged transportation option in its own right. 10% of residents/Parisians are now subscribers (over 300,000 people), with Vélib’ bikes chosen as a method of transportation nearly 40 million times a year and over 300 million rides since the service was launched. The success of this scheme is evident with satisfaction rates of over 90% as well as the Vélib’ Customer Relations Centre being named Best Customer Service Centre of the year in 2016 and 2017.
 
The JCDecaux/RATP/SNCF partnership is all the more surprised by the decision announced Friday 31 March, especially after receiving the top score for all non-financial rating criteria: specifically for “operation, upkeep, system maintenance, institutional communication, service monitoring” and “design, manufacture and system implementation.”
 
This means its competitor won the tender based solely on price. The winning partnership allegedly submitted a shockingly lower financial bid than the JCDecaux/RATP/SNCF partnership, which set the fairest price possible without sacrificing the security, quality and number of employees called for by the new Vélib’ service. The JCDecaux/RATP/SNCF partnership is concerned that this price difference is based on social dumping, with a proposal that does not plan to keep all current employees but instead relies on new inexperienced teams, with fewer staff working under less favourable job and wage conditions. 
 
Consequently, the JCDecaux/RATP/SNCF partnership is formally requesting that all details pertaining to the size of the teams, their working conditions and wages be made public. It will examine these details with the utmost care before drawing the necessary legal conclusions.