Paris, October 21, 2005 - JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company in Europe and the number two worldwide, was today awarded the 2005 Bicycle Trophy (Enterprise category) for Vélo’v®. Awarded within the framework of the 16th Congrès des villes cyclables (Congress of towns open to bicycles), this prize confirms the revolution in public transport this unique self-service bicycle rental service represents. Launched in Lyon and Villeurbanne on May 19 this year, Vélo’v® has completely transformed the transport habits of the residents of the Greater Lyon urban area, and proved to be an immediate popular success. Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the 29,000 registered users of this service have already covered more than 2 million kilometres since it was first brought into service.
A system that provides greater transport flexibility, Vélo’v® has proved itself to be truly complementary to public transport, which is confirmed by the fact that the periods of peak demands during the week are at a time when people are travelling to and from work, and at lunchtime. Its users have adopted it as a way to provide a convenient link between public transport and their final destination. However, it also facilitates short urban travel between places of work as well as for leisure activities.
Vélo’v® boasts the following key statistics:
- 2,000 bicycles and 175 cycle racks
- 12 – 16,000 rentals per day
- a number of users per bicycle from 12 to 15 per day
- An average journey time of 17 minutes
- An average distance covered of 2.6 km (1.7 miles).
Jean-Charles Decaux, Co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: “With Cyclocity®, known as Vélo’v® in the Greater Lyon region, JCDecaux has invented individual public transport. By complementing other means of transport, it has become a new link in the chain of mobility. As demonstrated by the figures, city-dwellers, who show greater respect for their environment, are re-thinking their individual travelling options and accepting the “ecological mobility” of the future. Just as with the Street Furniture concept, I am convinced that Cyclocity® will spread to the rest of France, be adopted in other countries, and offer cities and their inhabitants a new cleaner way of travelling.”
Key figures
2004 revenues: €1,627.3 million; H1 2005 revenues: €833.7 million
JCDecaux is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris and is part of the Euronext 100 and FTSE4Good indexes
N°1 worldwide in street furniture (311,000 faces)
N°1 worldwide in airport advertising with 155 airports and more than 150 transport contracts in metros, buses, trains and tramways (208,000 faces)
N°1 in Europe for billboards (197,000 faces)
716,000 advertising faces in 45 countries
Present in 3,500 cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants
