Updated on 27 August at 2pm
Of course, not everything will be perfect for welcoming disabled athletes and spectators at the next Paralympic Games. Accessibility of the Paris metro is still a major issue the big black spot of the French capital for passengers with reduced mobility. With the exception of line 14 and the new or recently renovated stations - 24 stations were made accessible between 2017 and 2024 - it will still be difficult, today and tomorrow, to reach the platforms in a wheelchair. Perhaps less so after tomorrow, when Valérie Pécresse, President of the Ile-de-France region, took advantage of the unveiling of the transport plan for the Paralympic Games to announce her new hobbyhorse, that of a "metro for all". This vast 20-year project is estimated to cost between 15 and 20 billion euros, and Valérie Pécresse would like to see it borne equally by the region, the city of Paris and the State. Line 6, which is partly overhead and therefore easier and cheaper to adapt, could be the first to get the ball rolling.
In parallel with this move towards a "PRM-friendly" metro, with the opening of the new Grand Paris lines and the extension of the RER E, 70 new stations should be 100% accessible in the inner and outer suburbs by 2031. This will already be the case for the stations serving the Olympic venues, where the SNCF assures us that 100% of them are fully accessible in preparation for the event. As far as maintenance is concerned, the SNCF assures us that " exceptional reinforcements have been put in place to avoid lift and escalator breakdowns and to reduce response times as much as possible" . As for RER stations, the assistance service Assist'enGare - recently redesigned to offer a one-stop shop for all-in-one booking, for all stages of their journey, whether regional, national, with connections, or international - is offered in all of them.
Among other things, one of the legacies that will benefit PRM and visually impaired business travellers in the future in a previously unfamiliar destination to simplify their journeys. Among the other advances that will have a lasting effect, the city of Paris has invested some twenty million euros in road repairs to increase the number of bus stops organised to allow wheelchair users to drop off their vehicles. This figure has risen from 53% to 70%, while all bus and tram lines are now wheelchair accessible.
On the other hand, whether in the city, its stations or its airports, hosting the Olympic Games means changes to signage and the introduction of audio elementsIn Paris, for example, vending machines with a voice interface are being installed. The RATP is in the process of rolling out on-board announcements of stations served on six metro lines - 3b, 7, 7b, 8, 10 and 12 - to make travelling easier for visually impaired passengers, and more generally for all users. In the same vein, FALC (Facile à Lire et à Comprendre - easy to read and understand) has been deployed in Paris airports, particularly at screening checkpoints and near lifts.
Paris-CDG and Paris-Orly will see a greater number of disabled travellers this summer, the ADP Group has completed almost 150 developmentsThese include canine areas for guide dogs and rooms - 6 at CDG and 2 at Orly - equipped with height-adjustable changing tables and ceiling-mounted or mobile patient lifts. Roissy and Orly are the first airports in France to offer these solutions.
At a time when almost 1.4 million assistance services are provided each year in Paris airports, 42 Mobility Assistance areas have also been completely renewed, some of them newly created. The ADP group has also taken an interest in another aspect, presented as "a new way of working". key to independence and comfort "For passengers with reduced mobility, this means keeping their wheelchair with them throughout their journey.
Accredited travellers to the Paralympic Games will be entitled to the systematic provision of their personal wheelchair to and from the aircraft's gangway. To this end, the number of aircraft lifts has been increased to a total of 24, including 6 extra at Paris-CDG and 10 at Paris-Orly. " We are gradually extending this process to all passengers by mid-2025 at the latest." says the ADP group.
The development of this solution will further strengthen the Air France SAPHIR service (Service Dedicated to Assisting Disabled People with Information and Reservations), launched over 20 years ago. The airline intends to capitalise on this heritage to ensure that as many passengers as possible can pick up their own wheelchair on leaving the aircraft, rather than the one offered by the assistance service. According to the airline, this service is one of the reasons why 35% of people with disabilities accredited for the Olympic Games have chosen Air France to come to Paris this summer.
As for accommodation, the Accor group has announced the deployment of Tourism and Disability" certification in its establishments located in the event's host cities. To date, 80 hotels have been awarded the label, bringing the total to 380. The French group will also be stepping up the presence of its Smart Room in its hotels as they open or renovate.
Launched in 2017, this room concept is designed to be both functional - with adapted wardrobes, motorised beds, washbasins and sliding bathroom doors - and above all design-led. "With this concept, our aim is to offer a new approach to PRM rooms, which are often unoccupied, unwelcoming and stigmatising."explained Damien Perrot, Director of Solutions Design, at the time of the presentation. At the same time, the group has added new filters to its ALL.com booking platform to better target available accessible rooms.
In some of its establishments, the hotel group is also offering new technological solutions to make life easier for disabled travellers. At the Pullman Paris Bercy and the Sofitel Lyon Bellecour, for example, these include an in-house GPS system to guide visually impaired customers to their room, to the restaurant or in the lobby. At the ibis Styles Paris Meteor and the ibis Marseille Saint Charles, this is an assistance solution enabling travellers to identify and locate objects and texts in their environment, using the camera on their smartphone and artificial intelligence algorithms.
Visually impaired customers attending the Paralympic Games will receive a remote control enabling them to activate all the standardised systems, such as the voice terminals in hotels and pedestrian lights. meet up in the Olympic Village.
The Paralympic Games could also have a knock-on effect, as Accor intends to pursue this approach in all its hotels in France and extend it to other regions of the world. Will it even reach the Mama Shelter, Sofitel and Fairmont Century Plaza hotels in Los Angeles by 2028?
