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Several ideas have since been rejected. “New metro lines” were supposed to increase “the capacity of transportation by 2024”. The advocates of the bid also announced “free access to the entire network (…) for ticket holders”. However, these costly promises have been abandoned.
More broadly, Olympic visitors will have to deal with an already saturated transportation network in the Ile-de-France region. To realize this, one only needs to go to the central stations of the capital during office hours.
Another issue is the accessibility of public transportation for people with disabilities. Less than 10% of the stations are wheelchair accessible, according to figures from August 2023. The transportation organizing authority aims to reach 14% by the opening of the Olympic Games. “This is the image of Paris that we are going to present. It is the image of France, we must be aware of it,” denounces Franck Maille, accessibility coordinator of the association APF France handicap, in our report.
It is worth noting that while the transportation question is critical, the construction of facilities is progressing better. Last July, in an interview with TF1info, the deputy mayor of Paris responsible for the Olympic Games assured that Paris would be “ready” and that “certain venues” would be “delivered ahead of schedule”.
