Announced several years ago, the establishment of lanes reserved for carpooling is slowly developing around the most congested French metropolises. In Lyon, Grenoble and Strasbourg, and soon in Rennes, Lille and Nantes, cars carrying at least two people can travel on dedicated lanes when traffic is slow. The objective is clear: encourage carpooling to save time and avoid the overly systematic use of solo cars. But how can we check that the famous soloists do not take the famous axis? For the moment, only the attentive eyes of the police make it possible to fine the offenders. But not for long. By the end of the year, several monitoring devices will be installed along the roads concerned in order to check the number of occupants. And to verbalize if necessary.
In ministry jargon, we call this “a pilot phase”. In the coming weeks and for a period of two years, the State will test a type of radar capable of verifying the number of occupants present in a vehicle. Contacted, the Ministry of Energy Transition specifies “that around ten sites” are affected by the installation of these devices. “If we don’t carry out checks, everyone will be able to take it,” explains a manager from the Western Roads Department. Each community concerned must, however, give its agreement before signing an agreement with the stakeholders, including the State.
Operational “in November or December”
For the moment, only Grenoble has already decided in favor of this agreement for an upcoming installation along the A48, over a portion of 8 km after the Voreppe toll. When will the others be? It’s difficult to know as communication is locked on this subject. In Lyon, two radars will be installed during October or November, “for implementation probably by the end of the year”, assures the metropolis. The latter applied as a candidate considering that it “needs efficient control by radar as a result of observed non-compliance”.
In Rennes, it is estimated that the control system will be effective “in November or December” on the emergency lane, where only public transport is currently authorized. The ministry assures that communication concerning the start of verbalizations will be managed “by local actors”.
At each location where the device will be installed, “specific road signs will be deployed”. Do we know what it will look like? “It is currently undergoing technical validation,” the ministry responds summarily. In Lyon, the offense has been potentially ticketable since January 18, 2021 on the M6/M7, but it must be done manually by law enforcement officers on patrol. The observation is the same in Grenoble, despite the installation of devices on the side of the roads. For the moment, these machines are only “educational tools” and do not allow verbalization. To support the police, the ministry would have chosen the solution developed by the company Pryntec within the framework of a national market. Asked several times, the company based in Côte-d’Or did not wish to respond to us. Created in 2018 by the group specializing in security TEB SAS, this company employing 200 people has already installed its solutions in Grenoble and Lyon.
Its device works using artificial intelligence software that can “scan” a car and instantly count the number of occupants, including when they are seated in the back. Yes, children matter. No, the inflatable doll does not work. And yes, the device can read your plate number and transmit it to the appropriate person.
A police officer will check the offense
The company based in Burgundy even puts forward a false detection rate estimated at less than 1%, day or night, even when it rains or snows. But it is indeed a police officer who will be responsible for manually checking whether there is an offense or not. Note that failure to respect carpooling lanes is punishable by a fine of €135.