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Day: 13 April 2022

Government renews support for Klaxit carpooling

by: Stephanie Horsman
13/04/2022

The government of Monaco is looking to help commuters beat the burden of rising fuel prices whilst protecting the environment by renewing its support for Klaxit, a French carpooling app that subsidises travel to the Principality.

According to the government, the majority of trips made into the Principality are by car. As such, traffic, particularly during rush hours, is fierce, air quality suffers, and household budgets are smashed due to rising petrol costs.

As a way to lessen the worries of all three factors, Monaco is again subsidising a carpooling solution via the Klaxit app, in line with its aim to reduce current car traffic to 1990 levels by the year 2030.

Sponsored by the Extended Monaco programme, some 50,000 employees working in Monaco, as well as causal visitors, can benefit from rides into and out of the Principality. Passengers are offered rides, regardless of distance, and drivers are compensated according to the distance travelled, the number of trips and the number of passengers.

This system allows costs to be split two or three ways and as a bonus, makes for a sustainable and ecological way to commute.

Since September 2020, all carpooling trips made on the Klaxit application with the Principality as their origin or destination have been subsidised. In concrete terms, drivers can receive up to €3 per trip and per passenger, or €120 per month by carpooling regularly. On the passenger side, journeys are financed by the State, regardless of the distance travelled.

This is no small thing considering recent rises in fuel prices, one not lost on local commuters. In March 2022, nearly 4,000 journeys were sponsored. This is three times more than in March of the previous year, a figure that shows a growing interest in this type of travel.

Klaxit also highlights that carpooling can be enjoyable, offering a chance to meet new people and make friends. They even offer incentives to new members. In addition to State funding of passenger journeys and to encourage drivers to take the first step, the app offers two exclusive “helping hands” to get started.  

The first is a €20 gift card for every driver making their first carpool journey on the app, and the second is a sponsorship offer giving €10 to the sponsor and €25 for each person the sponsor signs up. This comes in the form of a €20 gift card after the first trip as driver, as well as a bonus €5 at the end of the new driver’s sixth voyage.

Klaxit has been around since 2014, when Julien Honnart and Cyrille Courtiére first founded the company. They have since used company support to create networks as well as help from local authorities to subsidise trips. The app has raised more than €4 million through Via ID, RATP, Sodexo, MAIF and Aviva Impact Investing France (Inco).

 

 

Photo source: Klaxit

 

 

 

 

Paddle boarding from Monaco to Greece for charity

by: Stephanie Horsman
13/04/2022

Six intrepid ladies from the Cap Optimist organisation have pledged to travel 1,900 kilometres from Monaco to Athens, with proceeds going to the Princess Charlene Foundation’s drowning prevention programme.

It’s one thing to make the journey from Monaco to Athens, it’s quite another to make it using only paddle boards and sheer will. This is exactly what six women from Cap Optimist will be doing, aiming to set a new world record whilst raising money for vulnerable children.

The athletes, Itziar Abascal, Marie Goyenetche, Emmanuelle Bescheron, Margot Calvet, Alexandre Lux and Stéphanie Barneix, will depart from the Yacht Club of Monaco on 5th June at 2pm and cover 1,900 kilometres of open sea, finally reaching Pireas, the main port in Greece’s capital city of Athens on 20th June.

Donations start at €100 for every kilometre paddled, though higher value options are available to those who wish, and proceeds will benefit the drowning prevention and education through sport initiatives put on by the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation in Greece.

This feat may seem incredible, but it is just a warm-up for another massive adventure set to take place next winter.

“We will leave from Lima in Peru at the beginning of January 2023 to arrive 90 days later in Moorea in French Polynesia,” says Alexandra Lux. A trip that will cover more than 8,000 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean. To make the journey, the women will take turns on the paddle board every hour to avoid becoming over-heated and over-tired.

This isn’t the first time the Cap Optimist women have undertaken a scheme such as this. Their first excursion dates back to 2009, when only three members were on the books. They took it upon themselves to cross 4,830 kilometres of the Atlantic Ocean between Cape Breton in Canada and Capbreton in France.

“The objective of this expedition was to realise Stéphanie’s dream, who was touched by cancer. She had this crazy dream of crossing an ocean,” continues Lux.

This was followed up by a 2015 expedition around the legendary Cape Horn, noted as one of the world’s most dangerous passages in the world, all in the name of promoting water protection.

Cap Optimist is supported by the Hellenic Community of Monaco.

 

 

photo by Reynzo

 

 

 

 

MonacoTech looking for innovative new start-ups

by: Stephanie Horsman
13/04/2022

Monaco’s start-up incubator MonacoTech has put out its next call for applications for companies to support who are on the cutting-edge with growth potential and social impact.

Companies of the future are invited to apply for the 8th edition of MonacoTech’s latest round of support. The start-up incubator is particularly interested in green and clean tech, bio and medical tech, yachting, fintech, and pioneering digital projects to throw their weight behind.

The MonacoTech programme focuses on best practices and personalised follow-up through expert-led workshops, specialised events, sharing experiences, networking and connections to entrepreneurs, investors, as well as potential partner incubators.

Applications will be accepted from companies with at least a first prototype, a team, and the desire to establish themselves and work in the Principality.

The application process is already open and they will be accepting submissions until midnight on 31st May. There will be 20-minute video interviews of selected applicants from 17th to 20th June, followed by a presentation to the jurists on 7th July. Final selections will be made and announced on 6th September.

MonacoTech came into being in 2017 and was co-founded by the government of Monaco, Monaco Telecom and Xavier Neil. Based in two open plan premises of over 800m2 the sites boast 60 workstations, two labs and a co-working space.

Alumni of the programme include Carlo, Pineappli, Knap, Yacht Needs and O’Sol to name a few.

 

 

 

Traffic disruption on Avenue Princesse Grace

by: Stephanie Horsman
13/04/2022

A portion of Avenue Princesse Grace will be temporarily one-way as part of the ongoing works on the Testimonio II site.

The construction of Testimonio II continues at a steady pace, which is great news for those awaiting the 348 apartments, 50-space creche and the new home for the International School of Monaco, but with good there must also be a little bad.

In this case, the bad comes in the form of some minor traffic disruptions, the latest of which will be on Avenue Princesse Grace, where traffic will be down to a single lane from Tuesday 19th April to Friday 1st July. This will be continuous except for the Grand Prix period, from 23rd May to 30th May, when two-way traffic will be restored.

Coming from Menton to Monaco, on the section of road between the Sporting Monte-Carlo roundabout and the roundabout in front of the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel, there will be disruptions.

During this period, access to the Monte-Carlo Bay Resort and Monte-Carlo Beach hotels as well as their car parks will, however, remain maintained, both from Monaco and from Roquebrune, via management by a “traffic man”, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. Outside these hours, traffic will be managed by traffic lights with presence detection.

Signage will be posted in Roquebrune, at the intersection between Boulevard du Larvotto and Avenue Princesse Grace to indicate that the Monte-Carlo Bay Resort and Monte-Carlo Beach hotels are accessible.

With regard to CAM buses, Lines 5 and 6 will turn around at the Rocabella roundabout to serve their terminus at the Sea Club. The Sporting stop will therefore not be served during this period.

The 110 serving Nice Airport, Monaco and Menton will only be affected in one direction. The Menton to Monaco to Nice Airport line will be diverted from the Saint Roman stop to follow Boulevard d’Italie, then Boulevard des Moulins and Avenue de la Madone in order to serve a loop at Avenue Princesse Grace (Spélugues, Grimaldi Forum, Sea Club stops and U-turn at the Rocabella roundabout). On the return from this loop, the buses will reach the Monte Carlo stop and then resume the usual route.

The Nice to Monaco to Menton routing will not be impacted at all during this period.

 

 

 

Roca Team’s streak comes to an end

by: Luke Entwistle
13/04/2022

Dijon mustered a thrilling attacking display to shock an in-form AS Monaco Basketball (96-87) on Tuesday, boosting their play-off hopes, whilst Monaco remain in second in the Betclic Elite.

The rhythm of the match was quickly set as a buoyant home crowd spurred Dijon into an early lead, thanks in part to former Roca Team player Khadeen Carrington, who was lively in attack (17-9).

Mike James (17), Will Thomas (16) and Dwayne Bacon (14) all figured significantly, and allowed the Roca Team to keep touch with their opponents in the early stages. But despite an aggressive Monegasque defence, an efficient Dijon squad kept hitting the mark.

Carrington continued to be a thorn in Monaco’s side, and his 26 point contribution would be a decisive factor in ending Monaco’s streak of eight consecutive victories in the Betclic Elite.

David Holston was also prominent before half-time, as a late barrage saw the hosts head in 10 points to the good (50-40).

Having lost the opening two-quarters, the Roca Team did marginally decrease that deficit in the final two-quarters (22-23, 21-22), but an excellent display in game management from Dijon limited the damage.

The result does little harm to the Roca Team, who remain in second, now a victory behind Boulogne-Levallois. For Dijon, however, this was a large coup, and gives the seventh placed side hope of reaching the play-offs. With something to really play for, it was their superior motivation that proved the difference in an enjoyable game that, for once, didn’t go the Roca Team’s way.

Sasa Obradoivc’s men next welcome Pau to the Salle Gaston Medecin on Sunday, another side fighting to keep in the play-off spots. A win will be pivotal in order to give the side a boost before their crucial Euroleague play-off ties in Greece the following week.

 

 

 

 

Photo source: AS Monaco Basketball