Flowing through one of the world’s top tourist destinations, the Seine River is estimated to carry eight million passengers annually. While the Seine River is one of the city’s top sightseeing spots, it is also the heart of dynamic developments in urban mobility.
“Cars have been gradually disappearing from Parisian quays and residents are taking back the use of the space,” says Olivier Jamey, President of the Harbour Community of Paris. This development raises a new question: how can river cities like Paris seize the enormous potential that these urban waterways provide?
Finnish startup Bout’s mission is to make these urban waterways more accessible for locals and tourists alike, for both exploration and commuting. “We have this beautiful river flowing through the city so why not use it as a transportation option?” asks Bout COO and co-founder Teemu Terttunen. He explains, “Often the waterborne transportation is forgotten so we want it to be more common in Paris and other cities of the world.”
Increasing use of urban waterways
With the goal of increasing and improving the mobility of people in maritime cities, the team at Bout has crafted a mobile application and website that links user requests with local boats in a digital marketplace. The app offers different options enabling riders to book everything from short, private boat rides that can serve as floating taxis; to larger-scale shuttle services, like a waterbus. Additional options include ready-made packages that make waterways accessible for sightseeing and leisure activities.
To keep users safe, Bout uses pre-approved pick-up and drop-off points, and all boat captains must fulfil all legal requirements and prices for services vary according to the size of the boats and distance travelled.
Founded in 2018, Bout reports thousands of users across several waterways in Finland, as well as across Stockholm, Sweden. And now, as Bout aims to increase the number of people using these waterways for transport or pleasure, moving into a big city like Paris, with millions of residents, has strong potential for a large user base.
“The vision is to change the mindset of people when they think about waterborne transportation…we would like to add it to the existing options cities like Paris have, and for people to use it on a daily basis in their lives,” explains Terttunen.
Piloting in Paris
Just as the eyes of the world are set to turn upon the Seine for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Bout’s Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) offering has arrived in the city. “The Olympics will be bringing a lot of people here, so the transportation will be packed. Why not use the river to help people move around the city?” Terttunen asks, explaining, “That’s why we are here.”
For local service providers on the Seine, which represents a massive 80% of France’s passenger river traffic, the Olympics is an incredible opportunity, and Bout’s innovative way of bringing the public and waterways together made it a no-brainer for the Harbour Community of Paris.
In preparation for the influx into the city, the Harbour Community of Paris is experimenting with how Bout’s services can be applied to make the Seine part of the urban transportation mix. “We are developing more and more offers for individuals and for that you need ways to enable access to boats,” Olivier Jamey, the President of the Harbour Community of Paris explains.
As winners of EIT Urban Mobility’s SME Market Expansion Call, Bout received support to make their Parisian pilot a reality. Established to assist small businesses break into markets that have complex rules and regulations, often an overwhelming hurdle for startups and SMEs, the call links startups with local authorities and providers to jumpstart their solution. Bout co-founder Terttunen explains of the experience, “For a startup like Bout it gives us so many opportunities, and it gives us of course the financial resources, so we can develop the product further and test it in the live environment, so it’s been extremely positive…I would recommend other SMEs participate in the call because this helps the vision to come alive,” he says.
Thus, the pilot launch of Bout’s solution in Paris, supported by EIT Urban Mobility, has established numerous places where users of the app can embark, with the startup aiming to add more in the future. By sending extra sales and customers to local service providers, particularly to less digitally savvy businesses in the already fragmented industry, Bout believes it can offer value to both the city and businesses.
From Finland to France
In Bout’s native Finland, coastlines and lakes are dotted with thousands of islands and it’s more common to spot people getting around on boats for leisure or as a mode of transport. Jamey hopes that Paris can learn from such practices, explaining, “People often ask how we can use the river in Paris for public transport. We want to take inspiration from the tools available to the public in those other countries to develop local offers in Paris.”
Recognising that the negative environmental impacts of car traffic and urban logistics is an area of improvement for the city, Jamey sees that the Seine could offer an interesting alternative, “Everyone is concerned about the ecological impact of heavy traffic on streets and roads, and boats can make a significant contribution.”
With Bout’s involvement in Parisian waterways, Jamey predicts, “I think there will be a ‘before and after’ with the Olympic Games, and without doubt the ‘after’ will be many new ideas for using the river.”
