While her name is being circulated to take the reins of Matignon, Valérie Pécresse – the LR president of the Île-de-France Mobilités region and president of the Île-de-France Mobilités – pleads for the launch of a major project to make the metro , accessible to people with reduced mobility, and asks the State and Paris City Hall to get involved in it at the beginning of the launch of the Paralympic Games.
Why are you making this proposal today?
VALERIE PÉCRESSE. A metro for all is both a project and a vision of a truly accessible region. 2024 is a turning point in the transport revolution, we have taken a huge leap forward in terms of opening lines and multiplied by 5 the number of available stations. The Grand Paris Express is on its way, now we have to look ahead. We are moving towards an extension of life expectancy and a pedestrianization of the center of Paris, which means that accessibility to the metro becomes essential. We cannot tell Parisians who have taken the metro all their lives that from a certain age they will no longer be able to take it. But it’s not just a project for Paris! It also concerns all visitors to the capital and all suburbs who come to work in Paris and share in the prosperity of this city.
Is this an ultimatum that you are giving to the state and the city of Paris on the eve of the Paralympic Games?
No way! It is a new push that I would like to give. I think it could become a very unifying project in Île-de-France. We talked about metro accessibility several times during meetings with the state and Paris City Hall. This is also why we launched an investigation on line 6. Since then, nothing has happened. The question I ask the state and City Hall is, “Do you really want this project or is it just talk?” “I am financially committed, also in the long term, and I am ready to be responsible for the design of the project.
100% of Parisian bus lines are now accessible. Is it useful to launch a 20 billion euro project? The economic context is tense. Cities, but also departments and the state itself are finding it difficult to make ends meet…
When you go into debt, it is better that it be for productive investments than for short-term operating expenses. And the metro’s accessibility is an investment for the future that pays off. If we want to have an attractive city tomorrow and without cars, as I believe this is a project of the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, we must at some point also provide solutions. This project will represent an investment budget of 250 million euros per year for the region. It’s true: it’s a budget, you have to plan it. We are ready to do so and without additional tax.
