The announcement caused an uproar. During the Olympics, the price of a metro ticket will almost double to 4 euros, compared to 2.10 euros currently. The announcement of the details of the “Paris 2024” Olympic pass, at 70 euros per week, also sparked reactions, on the grounds that transport was supposed to be free for ticket holders for the Games.
“It’s the right price,” said Valérie Pécresse to the Team this Friday. Questioned on the subject on the sidelines of the signing of the agreement to make the Marcel Cachin high school (Saint-Ouen) available for the Olympic Games, the president of the region and of Île-de-France Mobilités specifies that, originally , “we had a commitment from Cojop (Organizing Committee) which was to finance free transport for Olympic ticket holders. Unfortunately Cojop does not have the financial means. »
“No one wants to finance transport, neither the State nor the city of Paris nor Cojop,” added Valérie Pécresse. From that moment on, I made the commitment that the costs of the 15% increase in transport provision would not be borne by the inhabitants of Île-de-France.
It would be “unfair” to make Ile-de-France residents pay
The initial bill of 45 million euros, which Cojo had planned to pay, was also revised upwards to reach 200 million. “The Cojo had completely underestimated the extent of the increase in transport (…)” explains Valérie Pécresse, forced to find “additional revenue” while refusing to pass this additional cost on to its citizens, which she says “ relieved” of the choice made. “I’m not making a profit from visitors, I’m just financing transport by not passing this cost on to everyday travelers because that would be unfair. »
“When you’re part of a team, you don’t shoot against your side”
“The Ile-de-France residents cannot pay for the Games, that would make them totally unacceptable for them, unpopular. This is why we have set up a special Olympic price, the 2024 pass which will be paid for by visitors from Île-de-France who come in August (…)” she adds.
Valérie Pécresse also defended the price of the single ticket at 4 euros as a deliberately dissuasive solution. “The ticket was set at €4 so that we wouldn’t take it because we didn’t want to have queues at the ticket counter,” she explains. We set a very high ticket price so that everyone takes the Paris 2024 pass. And this one-week pass of €70 is €10 per day for unlimited transport throughout the Île de France. »
His speech also comes after the dig launched last week by Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, on the set of Quotidien. “We are not going to be ready” on transport, she said. “Of course it will be ready,” replied Valérie Pécresse to her rival, recalling the “extraordinary collective work” to be on time. And tackling his rival in passing: “When you’re part of a team, you don’t shoot against your camp”.
The new transport pricing, planned to be in force from July 20 to September 9, 2024, should be voted on December 7 by the board of directors of Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM).
