PARIS: Paris is gearing up to host the much-anticipated 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, but with this excitement comes a significant change in transportation costs for tourists. In a recent announcement, Valerie Pecresse, the president of the Île-de-France region encompassing Paris, revealed that during the July to September Olympic period next year, metro ticket prices would almost double. Pecresse stated in a social media video on Tuesday that single metro journeys during the event would cost 4 euros, a stark increase from the current price of 2.10 euros. To cater to visitors, a specialized transit pass dubbed the “Paris 2024 Pass” will be introduced, granting unlimited access across the entire Île-de-France region for 16 euros per day.
“We will create a new [transport] pass, the Paris 2024 Pass, that will allow visitors to move across the entire Île-de-France. It will cost 16 euros per day. That is the fair price,” Pecresse explained. Amid concerns over the transport infrastructure’s readiness for the Olympics, Île-de-France Mobilités, responsible for public transport companies, assured an expansion of transport options during the event. Pecresse emphasized that local residents would not shoulder the increased costs, ensuring that those with monthly or annual public transport passes would be exempt from these price hikes.
This announcement follows Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s recent admission regarding the city’s public transport network’s lack of readiness for the influx of tourists during the Olympics and Paralympics. These transportation concerns are the latest in a series of questions about Paris’s preparedness for the upcoming global sporting event. Apart from transit readiness, the city has grappled with other pre-Olympic worries. Concerns about a potential surge in bedbug infestations surfaced earlier this year when videos circulating on social media purportedly showed bedbugs on the Paris metro, Charles de Gaulle airport, and trains in France. While these incidents initially sparked fears, subsequent reports indicated a decline in such concerns as the event draws closer.
