Villeneuve-sur-Lot went fully free-to-ride in 2018. No ticketing, no fare validation. The challenge: prove ridership, deliver real-time information and run a 100% green fleet across 19 rural communes.
Just because a network is free-to-ride doesn't mean passengers expect any less. We had to maintain a high service standard: reliability, responsiveness and clear information at all times.
— Aurore Bacq, Operations Director, Transdev Grand Villeneuvois
The context: a rural territory with urban-level ambitions
Villeneuve-sur-Lot: 47,500 residents across 19 communes, 14 of them rural. Transdev Grand Villeneuvois built Réseau Elios — regular urban lines, school transport, on-demand, TPMR and community bike rental, all on one network.
The decision: free transit, a rational choice
In 2018, fare-free became the default. The finding: fare revenue represented just 4% of the network's total budget. Maintaining a ticketing system cost more than it generated.
- Fare revenue: 4% of budget — below the cost of ticketing infrastructure
- Versement mobilité covers 76% of the annual budget
- Budget at equilibrium — zero public debt from the free-fare model
The challenge: no tickets, no data, no visibility
Without ticket scans, you have almost no reliable data. Before 2020, drivers had no real-time schedule visibility. Dispatchers could not locate vehicles. Passengers had no way of knowing if their bus was late.
The solution: from blind spots to full network visibility
In 2020, Pysae was deployed across the entire Elios fleet. Every bus received Pysae Driver. The control room gained instant visibility of every vehicle, every route, every delay.
- Pysae Driver on every bus: real-time schedule, instructions, control-room comms — no radio
- Live dispatch map: positions, delays, early arrivals — calculated automatically per line
- Passenger app (GTFS-RT): next departures at every stop, updated every 30 seconds
- Automated reporting: monthly performance reports in minutes, not days
Counting ridership: 98.2% accuracy
WeBreathe optical sensors count boardings and alightings at each stop with 98.2% precision. The data feeds directly into Pysae, combined with GPS telemetry and schedule data.
Green transition: digital and green in parallel
By 2024, 100% of the Elios fleet runs on HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) — a renewable fuel produced locally from organic waste and used vegetable oils.
- 2020: BioGNG station opened, fleet partially converted
- 2022: progressive HVO transition begins
- 2024: 100% of fleet on HVO renewable fuel
Results
- 956K trips per year
- 35K app sessions per month
- 100% green fleet
- 98.2% passenger-count accuracy