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A Subway Ride at the Paris Olympics Could Cost You Almost Double
Citing the price tag of ramped-up service for the Games, the regional transit authority is planning big increases aimed at visitors from July 20 to Sept. 8.
With nearly 10 million people expected to throng the streets of Paris during the Olympics this summer, visitors already knew getting around the city would be a challenge. But now it will probably be a lot more expensive, too.
The price of a single ride on the Metro between July 20 and Sept. 8, roughly the dates of the Olympics and Paralympics, is set to jump to 4 euros, or about $4.40, from its current price of €2.10. A pack of 10 tickets will climb to €32 from €16.90.
In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday, Valérie Pécresse, the president of the administrative region that includes Paris and its suburbs, announced the temporary fare increases for public transportation.
“For the first time in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, 100 percent of spectators will be able to access all the sporting events via public transportation,” said Laurent Probst, the chief executive of Île-de-France Mobilités, the organization that oversees transportation in the Paris region. To meet the demand, he said, the system will add 15 percent more Metro and commuter rail trips during the Games, costing the agency an additional €200 million. The fare increases are an effort to recoup that cost.
The administrative council of Île-de-France Mobilités is set to vote on the proposal on Dec. 7.
The price jumps are a sharp reversal from a now-abandoned plan by the French National Olympic and Sports Committee to make public transportation free for those who hold tickets to Olympic events, as London did in 2012. The plan in Paris would have cost €45 million, said a spokesman for the 2024 organizing committee.
In her video, Ms. Pécresse sought to reassure locals that they could avoid the higher fares by either buying an unlimited monthly or yearly pass — which would be unaffected by the increase — or stocking up on rides before July 20. But anyone, local or tourist, who pays for a transit trip during the period will have to pay the new temporary fares.
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