This time it's for good.
After more than 120 years of existence, the paper ticket book, a historical symbol of the Parisian metro, is about to give way to a new, more modern offer of transport tickets, intended for occasional travelers and tourists.
A project defended since 2016 by the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, who had made it one of the strong axes of her mandate.
Initially scheduled for 2021, the end of the magnetic ticket book was postponed by the health crisis, and will not take effect until the end of the first quarter of 2022. The time for RATP agents to accompany travelers in this transition period.
“Our goal is to offer our customers new fare tickets that meet their needs,” explains Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM).
The organizing authority estimates the cost of the modernization to be around 400 million euros.
A gradual and smooth transition
The abandonment of the magnetic ticket book in the Paris metro firstly involves a practical aspect: the tickets can get lost, demagnetize or end up in the gutter.
IDFM reports that around five million tickets demagnetize each year.
Thanks to badges or contactless solutions, the anonymous data collected makes it possible to better understand the travel habits of public transport users.
The metro ticket has become a symbol of another time, but with some 700 million tickets used each year, its withdrawal from sale will not be done in a snap.
Also, RATP and Île-de-France Mobilités have developed a four-step strategy to ensure a gradual transition, according to a report from the IDFM board of directors.
First, from September 2021, RATP will gradually stop its supply of magnetic tickets from its supplier, in order to exhaust stocks.
Then, from October, the machines of a hundred stations and stations which sell only a small volume of notebooks will not distribute any more, but the sales will continue at the counter.
In January 2022, a second group of more frequented stations - 179 in total - will be affected by the same process.
Read also The great history of the Paris metro ticket
It is in March 2022 that the final stage of the project will come into force. RATP has planned to set up automatic dispensers for Navigo Easy cards to enable purchases without going to the counter. Automatons in major transport hubs, such as train stations or airports, but also tourist resorts, will in turn abandon the sale of magnetic notebooks. Ditto for tram stations.
Finally, all counters in the RATP network will end the sale of notebooks.
Only single tickets will remain on sale, at a price of 1.90 euros, unless there is a price change.
Users who have stocks of tickets will be able to continue using them beyond March 2022. Note that the number of validators accepting paper tickets will also be reduced over time.
But that the paper format will remain for a few more years for single “origin-destination” tickets, for Paris-suburbs journeys, the time to equip all SNCF stations with “digital” validators.
Multiple solutions for travelers
To replace the traditional notebook, solutions already exist. Since summer 2019, the Navigo Easy pass allows occasional travelers to load up to 30 T + tickets individually on a non-nominative badge. Sold at a price of 2 euros, it pays for itself from the first loading of a book (14.90 euros against 16.90 euros for a classic ticket book).
In addition, the “Navigo Liberté +” service, launched in November 2019, is aimed at users who wish to pay according to their actual consumption. To benefit from this offer, you must register on the IDFM website or at a RATP point of sale, and enter your bank details. The user can then travel freely on the network (excluding “origin-destination” journeys), benefit from preferential rates, and pay each month according to the number of journeys made.
For the most connected users, a smartphone can also help to travel, thanks to the Île-de-France Mobilités (formerly ViaNavigo), Assistant SNCF or RATP applications.
In fact, these services allow you to top up a Navigo pass without going to the resort, to purchase individual notebooks or T + tickets, and even to validate your transport ticket, if the phone is equipped with wireless technology. contact (NFC).
Already possible with several Android smartphones (with Orange or Sosh SIM), dematerialized validation should arrive on Apple devices in the coming months.
"You have to live with the times"
In the Paris metro, the end of the paper ticket takes on a form of logic for users.
"It's a good thing in my opinion," said Meryem Harrizi, data analyst and holder of a monthly Navigo pass.
It's more practical, faster, you no longer waste time looking for a valid ticket when you have several in your pocket, and it will undoubtedly generate less waste.
Some travelers do not share this opinion, and wonder if users will not lose.
“I don't think that's a good thing, regrets Mireille, retired, a bit nostalgic.
From now on, it will be more expensive to buy a single ticket than to buy a ticket.
"
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It is true that some concerns remain, especially for the elderly.
"I know they still keep a lot of paper tickets," says Maria Ribeiro on the platform of Pigalle station, in Paris (18th century).
The transition will not happen like that, it will be necessary to support them.
It's a big change, but you have to live with the times!
She smiles.
Île-de-France Mobilités assures us, all the new offers will be explained, and the transition will be smooth.
RATP agents are already present with travelers to answer their questions, and will continue to do so during the various stages between now and the first quarter of 2022. After that, the iconic paper ticket will be bowed out.
Some will keep it as a souvenir, others as a collector's item.
