250,000 empty car seats enter Luxembourg City every day, according to a 2017 mobility survey. This was one of the figures that prompted the launch of a carpooling platform. Minister for sustainable development and infrastructure François Bausch and secretary of state for the environment Camiile Gira presented “CoPilote” on Wednesday. The website and app (only available in French for the moment) aim to connect people with similar journeys so that they can share a single car.

Anyone interested can take a first glimpse of the website and search for a journey without registering. However, registration, which is free of charge, is required to benefit from all the functions of “CoPilote”.

The concept is simple. Drivers enter their regular and/or unique journeys, add preferences such as music and news they like to listen to, the maximum size they allow for luggage and if they require a contribution towards travel expenses (which can range from 0 to a maximum of 10 cents per kilometre). Once the driver shares their trip, it can be found via a simple search by potential passengers who can book the trip in a similar way to online shopping platforms. Drivers and passengers can respectively locate each other using the platform. An English and German version will be released in September.

“CoPilote” arrives a few months after the ministry released the results of the “Luxmobil” mobility survey.  The survey mapped mobility across the grand duchy with the aim of providing assistance to transport planners. The data showed that overall occupation of private vehicles is only 1.2 people per car for cross-border traffic, and that congestion led to the saturation of all transport networks at peak times. In addition, a large number of communities in Luxembourg and in the border regions of its three neighbouring countries have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, making efficient public transport service complicated.

The ministry is encouraging employers to promote carpooling among their staff, for example by creating parking spaces exclusively for the use of carpooling vehicles and by offering a refund to carpooling passenger of up to €2 per trip for their travel expenses until the end of the launch phase on 15 July.

The ministry is also looking into the creation of future infrastructure dedicated to carpooling, including motorway lanes reserved for vehicles with at least 3 passengers.