The Western Roads Department had announced that it wanted to move quickly and it did not lie. Announced for the fall, the opening of the carpooling lane will be effective “at the beginning of October”, announces Diro without specifying the exact date. Already open to public transport since January, the lane has been built on the emergency lane of the RN137 over a four-kilometer section between Chartres-de-Bretagne and the Rennes ring road. Thanks to the Climate and Resilience Law, communities have the authorization to receive people practicing carpooling. Note that radars monitoring the number of occupants on board cars will also be installed.
While waiting for traffic to begin, new work will be carried out along the four-lane road, leading to the closure of the portion every night from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. until September 29 (excluding weekends). The lane reserved for public transport will also be closed during the work, which could cause an increase in travel times. The establishment of this dedicated lane had made it possible to reduce bus travel times by four to five minutes on average, and sometimes up to 9 minutes when the traffic jams were the most intense.
This new route open to carpooling aims to combat the phenomenon of solo cars, a source of traffic jams and pollution during rush hours. In France, more than 85% of motorists drive alone in their car in the morning, according to a study published by the motorway manager Vinci. In Rennes, we are even talking about 103 people for 100 cars on the ring road. Around ten French cities have already or will adopt these same carpooling lanes.