Valérie Pécresse followed through on her threat. As Le Figaro announced on Tuesday, the board of directors of Île-de-France Mobilités, the organizing authority for Ile-de-France transport, unanimously voted on Wednesday to temporarily stop payments to RATP and SNCF for July, and until the state compensates for the loss of revenue due to the coronavirus crisis.
Read also: Pécresse will not pay RATP and SNCF
In the immediate future , " the operators will use their cash " to ensure the circulation of public transport, assured Valérie Pécresse, president of the Ile-de-France Region and Ile-de-France Mobilités, warning that projects of investment will be affected if the situation does not clear.
"We are not paying the July deadline ," explained Valérie Pécresse's entourage to Le Figaro . And we won't be paying the next ones until the government puts a durable solution on the table. ” The state made a first move. In the third amending finance bill adopted at the end of June in the National Assembly, an amendment provides for a subsidy of 425 million euros to Île-de-France Mobilités. "A re-vision clause is expected by the end of the year , added Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, now Minister for Transport, recently. And the State will adjust its payment if necessary in 2021. ” But Île-de-France Mobilités believes that this boost is not enough.
Several billion euros at stake
The Region estimates that 2.6 billion in revenue will be lost in 2020, or 1.6 billion in commercial revenue lost due to the drop in traffic and one billion in mobility payments. Without compensating for this shortfall, one of the possibilities for the region to finance public transport would be to increase the price of monthly subscriptions by 20 euros for five years. " It is out of the question that travelers pay the Covid bill while in other countries, it is the States that compensated for the losses, " insisted Valérie Pécresse, citing Germany as an example.
" I am waiting for the government to take up this subject and for us to meet as soon as possible to discuss this very serious public transport crisis in the country, " she continued, regretting "to have the impression of speak in a vacuum with a government of accountants . "
