Smoove, a French bike-sharing company, is set to bring their bicycle-sharing platform to Lagos after successfully doing same in France, Morocco, Tunisia, and Abidjan. Owing to Nigeria’s strong drive to boost its transport systems and become a green city, the company has won a bid to set up a 200-bike share project in Lagos this year.
Founded in France by Laurent Mercat in 2008, Smoove hopes to include Lagos in the list of 28 cities and 14 countries where its bike-sharing platform is present. This French company aims at increasing its tally of 30,000 connected bicycles worldwide in 2018.
French electric bike-sharing service Smoove to launch in Lagos, Nigeriahttps://t.co/dhfJ3lljc5
— Kenyannews.co.ke (@kenyannews_) February 21, 2018
How does Smoove work?
Smoove uses the model of converting a standard bike into an e-bike by installing a battery in its frame. Also, a motor can be added to its front wheel, as the docking stations lock the e-bicycles in place and recharges their batteries also.
There is also the Smoove Box, which is not only capable of identifying a rider through a simple card reader, it can also use an NFC-enabled smartphone or a simple access code. A screen displays clear examples on how to view a real trip’s distance for the duration of the hire.
With the company’s unique anti-theft and vandal-resistant devices, it offers a very secure and tough bike designed for users comfort. Also, an RFID tag reading system is located in the bike stand to further secure the bike’s station.
What more, it also offers a “parking overflow” feature, which allows riders to park their bikes even if the docking stations are at full capacity.
Super curious to see what happens pic.twitter.com/2lgkSdOM18
— Bankole Oluwafemi (@MrBankole) February 9, 2018
The other benefits
According to Smoove, their bicycle-sharing solution is complementary to the existing public transport service and provides a 24-hour-a-day way for people to get around. It is also cheap and sustainable for the environment. Smoove aims to expand into more African cities in order to transform the landscape by providing technical and financial support when needed.
If you’ve been having a hard time moving around Lagos due to the city’s characteristic traffic congestion… well, your luck may be about to change!
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