A snail operation led by angry VTC drivers was underway Thursday afternoon on the Paris ring road, according to images from independent journalist Clément Lanot.
According to the National VTC Inter-Union (INV), the main French collective of VTC drivers behind this operation, the convoy left the Porte de Vincennes at 1pm and was to join the Porte de Gentilly in the south of Paris, thus blocking the lanes of the inner ring road. According to Clément Lanot, around 2,000 VTCs would be participating in this mobilization.
According to a statement from the INV published on X (formerly Twitter), the VTCs are protesting notably against their working conditions during the Olympic Games to be held in France next summer. The main reason for their dissatisfaction: their exclusion from the 185 km of lanes reserved for taxis, buses, emergency vehicles, and people accredited by the Olympic Committee in Île-de-France during the Olympics. The INV claims access to these lanes with no restrictions for the duration of the Games.
According to the statement, public institutions justify this exclusion by “the lack of regulation” in the sector, “exacerbated by the arrival of over 60,000 new drivers, often part-time, and the proliferation of mafia networks fraudulently exploiting the profession of driver”. This is why the INV is calling for the introduction of a numerus clausus. “We warn citizens that we will intensify punch actions on a national scale,” the statement warns.
