"Sorry sir, you are not allowed to drive on this axis. Municipal officials posted at the corner of rue du Louvre and rue de Rivoli, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, redirect vehicles from individuals who wish to use this major route in the city of Paris. Taxis, ambulances, delivery people or buses can still pass. Not the VTC drivers. A decision made by the mayor (PS) of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, to favor in particular soft circulation and limit pollution in this period of major health crisis.
“Since Monday, we have failed, sighs Mickaël Massot, independent driver. On a journey between Bastille and Concorde, a taxi will take 10 to 15 minutes and making a detour will take us 35 minutes. It is disloyal. In addition, I work without Uber, having as clients the big hotels in this sector. I have to ask people to get around and join me 800 meters away because I can't get them on if they're on rue de Rivoli. How do you want me to be attractive? "
With 200 other VTC drivers who feel aggrieved by this decision of the City of Paris, they have set up a collective representative of their profession and join forces to start legal proceedings: a request for an interim suspension has just been filed in court administrative office in Paris this Friday by lawyers Rémy Josseaume and Aïley Alagapin-Graillot, specialists in road law.
"There is a break in equality, an imbalance, favoritism"
In this interim order, a suspension of this decision to close the rue de Rivoli is requested. And as the economic impact is immediate for VTC drivers, the court could rule in the next few days, urgently.
"This decree of the town hall of Paris favors taxis compared to VTCs, in a competitive sector, there is a breach of equality, an imbalance, favoritism, believes Me. Josseaume. The commercial attractiveness of hybrid bikes is affected. They will waste time, journeys will cost more. And they can neither pick up nor drop off a client on this major axis of Paris where there are luxury boutiques, tourism and hotels. In its decree, the Paris City Hall also calls it emblematic. And this will have significant economic repercussions for all hybrid bikes. Besides, for a few days, taxis have been communicating about this advantage. "
"There is room for everyone"
A little more than 30,000 VTC work in Paris and its suburbs and nearly 20,000 Parisian taxis are listed. "We are not waging a war on them, they are our competitors, not our enemies," Mickaël Massot, VTC has been hammering immediately for five years. We are complementary. We do not necessarily offer the same services. And there is room for everyone. "
The members of the collective recall that during the confinement, some of them played the game and transported caregivers free of charge. "We were impacted by this crisis and this decision will threaten even more many jobs, worries Mickaël Massot. For my part, I have lost 70% of my activity since mid-February. But this week, it resumes. There are many people who are afraid to take transport and who call us. But this favoritism also impacts them. "
This is also another axis of the appeal initiated by the collective. "This decision had received an unfavorable opinion from the prefecture," advises Me Josseaume. Public transport is a vector for the spread of the virus, so penalizing VTCs does not seem to me a good solution. "
Other axes could be concerned in the capital
The decision to close rue de Rivoli (Ier-IIe), announced for several weeks by the mayor of Paris should only be the first in a series. Rue Mouffetard (Ve), rue Saint-Paul (IVe), rue Saint-Jacques (Ve) and boulevard Saint-Michel (Ve-VIe) should follow.
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"It is announced that it is provisional, but it was the case for the tunnel under the Arc-de-Triomphe roundabout, for the lanes on the bank and we saw that it then became final, continue the lawyers of the VTC collective. Finally, there is a procedural flaw. If the rationale is ecological, consultation and studies are required and there has not been one. In particular on the traffic reports on the other axes ”
The City of Paris does not intend to give in
When contacted, the Paris City Council agreed with its position: “The objective of closing rue de Rivoli to traffic is to reduce automobile traffic and pollution to allow the necessary distance in this post-containment period. For authorized vehicles, the city has set two criteria: priority vehicles usually driving in the bus lane (taxis, emergency vehicles, buses), and the criterion of the city's economic vitality by authorizing deliveries and craftsmen . "
Words that echo those of Mickaël Massot blocked at the entrance to the rue de Rivoli, facing a municipal officer. "I am an artisan I have my card for the chamber of trades, look, it's in your decree, artisans are authorized. In vain: "Drive or I verbalize you," said the agent firmly, noting the VTC plate.
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