To this question asked to the driver of this Parisian bus: "
Is it possible to buy a ticket on board?"
", The answer is"
no, because of the Covid
".
The onset of the health crisis caused the sale of tickets on board RATP network buses to stop.
An evolution that makes the purchase of tickets for foreign tourists more complicated.
Read also: RATP's solutions to compensate for the decline in traffic due to Covid
Remember that the sale of tickets on board buses has been stopped since March 2020, the Covid-19 epidemic requires. Anxious to protect the drivers, the management has set up Plexiglas walls separating them from the passengers. The CGT RATP Bus union has repeatedly pointed out the health risks of direct sales for the drivers of the network which operates in Paris and Ile-de-France. Justice also ruled in favor of the union last April against the RATP which wanted to resume sales on board, a decision deemed premature. Contacted by telephone, Île-de-France Mobilités, the organizing authority for public transport in the region, confirmed that there was, to date, no planned return date for the sale in the vehicle.
If direct selling is no longer possible, other solutions have been deployed, allowing the passage to modernize the network's tools. In particular, RATP has developed its “ticket by SMS” service, allowing French people and foreign tourists to buy their tickets directly via their smartphone: a message with “
Bus
” plus the line number sent to 93 100 allows them to receive an SMS which acts as a ticket, for an amount of 2 euros.
But here it is: the number is not compatible with all foreign operators because “
it relies on French mobile operators
”, as Île-de-France Mobilités explains to the newspaper
Le Parisien
. The network confirms its choice at
Le Figaro,
explaining that "
the solution has been deployed in addition to on-board sales with a health issue
".
Foreign tourists can therefore find themselves in a delicate situation, if they wish to buy their tickets in an impromptu way.
But other solutions exist, such as the Navigo Easy pass: available at station counters or in equipped shops, it costs two euros and allows you to load several tickets, such as single tickets or booklets, without being nominative.
If for the moment the resumption of direct sales remains remote, Île-de-France Mobilité is emphasizing “
ticketing modernization
”.
And believes that the solutions deployed allow foreign tourists to travel, despite these difficulties.
