During a press conference, the president of the Ile-de France region took stock of the issue of transport, security and even the legacy surrounding the Games.
123 days before the long-awaited, and dreaded, opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, Valérie Pécresse decided to bring together the press in order to provide an overall update on the involvement of the Île-de-France region, which she has chaired it since 2016.
Games for which it invested 500 million euros, equally between the region and Île-de-France mobility. The opportunity for the 2022 Presidential candidate to recall that “Organizing these Games is an immense challenge. There were two ways to approach it: either find excuses in the face of the obstacle, or have the guts to dare the feat. And we had this guts, this belief that we were going to wow the world. So we have to stop with the doubts, with the self-denigration and the skepticism. Of course, the Games will cause inconvenience to Ile-de-France residents for a few weeks. It’s true, and it’s inevitable. But the outcome of the Games will be extremely positive. For the Ile de France region, and for the country.”
Historic Games with double title
With a subject that keeps coming back to the table, between criticisms as harsh as they are ironic and serious concerns, that of transport. “I placed my mandates from the angle of the transport revolution, after thirty years of underinvestment in this area. Since 2016, I have never stopped getting back on track.” Hence two world firsts in the history of the Olympics: Games 100% accessible by public transport and 100% carbon-free. Concerning the risks of public congestion, Valérie Pécresse is resolutely optimistic by affirming that the gauges to be reached will be no different from those of winter traffic on public transport. As such, the president of the Île-de-France Region insists on reinforcing usual traffic by 15% “summer”itself traditionally lower than in winter.
A desire to focus on “collective intelligence”
However, there is the risk of a different concentration, with flow peaks at certain times of the day and on specific lines, already clearly identified. Such as the 14, “true backbone of the Games” in the words of Pécresse, or the 9, with a Trocadéro station for example which should be avoided between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. each day. “We will have to take away their automated transport systems from Ile-de-France residents”analyzes the president of the Region. “We rely on collective intelligence, such as stopping one station before for example. You shouldn’t be afraid to do a little walking, it’s good for your health and it will be August. Not to mention that a third of the visitors will be between 25 and 35 years old and we hope that at that age, some can walk.”
There will be no increase in the Navigo Pass, it’s fake news.
Valérie Pécresse
A subject that is close to Valérie Pécresse’s heart, not without a certain frustration/tension on the question of pricing. “There will be no increase in the Navigo Pass, it’s fake news”, she blurted out first, exasperated. Before continuing: “If the price of a metro ticket is set at 4 euros throughout the Games, it is precisely so that no one buys one. We don’t want anyone waiting in line at the counters, which would cause the counters to clog up. So we don’t want people to buy individual tickets, hence the prohibitive price. Ile-de-France residents who do not want to pay 4 euros just have to subscribe to Liberté+, it’s free and you are billed for use only the following month, at the best rate of 1.73 euros. per ticket. So the Ile-de-France residents who are not yet on Liberté+ are because they want to pay more.”
For Valérie Pécresse, “Thanks to the Games, we have just achieved in seven years what we generally take 15 or 20 to achieve. We will have to learn lessons from this for the future. How can we maintain this Olympic spirit to continue to accelerate projects and maintain this dynamism? I am convinced that without the Games, we would never have been able to meet the deadlines for extending line 14 (which will connect Orly to Châtelet in 25 minutes, instead of 50 today) and the RER E then that there, we will achieve it at the last minute (with deliveries planned for June). Same thing with regard to a certain number of projects which accelerated under the pressure of the Games. A valid observation on the issue of accessibility, with an acceleration of work which will allow 240 stations to be adapted for people with reduced mobility.
security like we’ve never had before.
Valérie Pécresse
The president of the Île-de-France Region also addressed another sensitive subject, that of security, dramatically brought to the forefront with the recent events that occurred in Moscow leading to the raising of the Vigipirate level to “emergency attack”, its highest level. Using numerous figures – 3,000 agents deployed across the entire network, 500 additional cameras for a total of 80,000 in stations and stations, etc. – Valérie Pécresse recalled that we were going to “have security like we’ve never had before” so far during the Games.
Pass this JO
Before concluding on the sporting legacy of these 2024 Olympics: “Beyond the immense celebration and this moment of national cohesion, the Games are also an accelerator of projects, and not just any projects. I have always had the objective that these Games be the basis of a lasting legacy for all Ile-de-France residents. I want to take advantage of this to put the region in sneakers, I want to convert it to sport. We will not have public facilities built and then left to rust like other Olympiads before us. We will have equipment that will continue to operate at full capacity. And in terms of costs, our control today is total and I can say, there will be no Olympic debt.”
