Paris region officials have just made a big promise—one that will be hard to keep—to make the Paris Metro system accessible for people with disabilities. The move came just as the Paralympic Games came to an end, drawing a sharp contrast to how inaccessible the Metro is for most people with wheelchairs or serious mobility issues.
The agreement, signed off by the APF-France Handicap association, the city of Paris and the head of the region Ile-de-France. During the Games closing ceremony, the president of the Paralympics committee noted that “We all have a collective responsibility to take advantage of the momentum of the Paralympic Games to make this world more inclusive… The best Paralympic legacies are those that continue after the Games and I call on all those involved to make the dream of an accessible Paris Metro a dazzling reality.
But the dream will not be easily realized, except for the four new lines under construction. At present, only 29 stations on two lines are actually wheelchair-accessible. The older lines, some of them now 125 years old, are often reached by multiple levels of stairs and passageways up and down, complicating attempts at providing accessibility.
Early estimates are that the whole project would run to €15-20 billion over 20 years, which Ile-de-France chief Valerie Pecresse says should be shared equally among the city, the region and the national government. A major issue is likely to be the source of the funding, with some suggesting a tourism tax might be the answer.
Paris, like London and New York, faces a quite different situation from that in cities such as Berlin, Vienna and Munich where subway systems are almost completely accessible with a wide variety of escalators and elevators in nearly every station, and that is the fare collection system. Because those cities do not use a gate or turnstile system, elevators and escalators can go simply from street or mezzanine level directly to platforms. The cities rely on roving inspectors to keep travelers honest about paying fares, with instant fines for those who don’t.
