Tickets for Paris public transport services to return to pre-Olympic levels
Temporary price hikes, including for direct Paris airport buses, helped pay for additional services during Games
The temporary hike will have lasted less than two months
Clara / Shutterstock
Tickets for Paris public transport network will return to their pre-Olympic price next week after nearly two months of heightened tariffs.
The price of a single ticket on the Metro has been €4 since July 20 – and €5 for a journey on a bus in the capital – but will return to the original price of €2.15 (for metro, bus, and inner-city RER services) from September 9.
In addition, the price of a ‘carnet’ of 10 tickets will return to €17 (as opposed to €32), and the direct buses from the two main Parisian airports will also return to normal rates.
Prices were raised with the aim of preventing queues at ticket booths in busy stations whilst the Olympic and Paralympic Games were on and an influx of visitors hit the city.
They were also raised to help shoulder the costs for the increased levels of public transport services required during the Games, without having to raise additional funds from taxpayers in the region.
People were urged to buy tickets in advance, or to use alternative plastic rechargeable cards, which can be topped up anywhere, especially those who lived or worked in the city.
Statistics from Île-de-France Mobilités, which runs public transport services in the region, show that an additional 500,000 people used the Parisian metro in the first week of the Olympic Games, making an additional 1.2 million journeys on the network.
Further ticket price raises – or increases to subscriptions such as the Navigo pass – may come into force in 2025 for commuters, but these have not been confirmed by the authorities.
One legacy from the Games that may remain, however, is the permanent fixture of the Olympic Rings on the Eiffel Tower.
Read more: Eiffel’s family oppose keeping Olympic rings on his famous Paris tower
