Rezo Pouce (organised hitchhiking)

Alternative to needing a car, or a second car, in the countryside

Description

Rezo Pouce is a free, organised hitchhiking network in rural and suburban France: members wait at signposted “arrêts sur le pouce” stops, show where they are going, and a driver from the network stops to pick them up. It is an alternative to needing a car, or a second car, in places with few buses.

The town of Moissac in Tarn-et-Garonne started it in October 2010, with the first stops in 2011; it then grew through an association and, from 2015, a cooperative. In June 2021 it merged with Mobicoop, a cooperative car-sharing platform owned by its members on a one member, one vote basis. Rezo Pouce now covers 103 areas, each set up by a local partner such as a town, a group of towns or a regional nature park, with thousands of stops in all.

Signing up is free, online or at a local relay point with an ID card, from age 16 with parental permission for minors. Members get a card and a kit with a map of the stops and a windscreen sticker for drivers. Rides are free; until 2016 passengers were asked to give a small contribution. The Mobicoop Pouce app lets passengers signal a trip without going to a stop. Neither drivers nor passengers have to accept a ride, and either can end it if they feel uneasy.

Strengths

Nothing to book: go to a stop when it suits, with no timetable.
Free registration and free rides, for passengers and drivers.
Members are registered with an ID, which feels safer than hitchhiking with strangers.

Weaknesses

It only exists where a local partner has set it up, and some areas list stops that are few or none.
No driver has to stop, so the wait is unpredictable and no published figures say how long it lasts.
Information is split between the Mobicoop Pouce app, rezopouce.fr and local partners’ websites.

Who it is for

Young people, older people and anyone without a car in a member area, for short trips to the market, the town centre or the station.

Sources

Rezo Pouce: home, territoires, checked November 2026; Mobicoop
Wikipédia: Rezo Pouce
The Conversation: L’auto-stop réinventé par Rezo Pouce (2019)

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