Transportation in Paris

The analysis of the city of Paris will begin with its public transports, as we previously studied Seoul subway and bus systems.

We’ll see below that the Parisian subway system is more adapted to foreign visitors than buses that are lacking of translations and we’ll try to compare this public transport network with Seoul’s.

                                                                                   

The website of Paris public transport: www.ratp.fr is entirely available in English and the section targeting tourists can be read in Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch and Japanese. This category gives information about how to buy a ticket, how to go to airports, or on tours… An application for smartphones is also available in those different languages and a paper guide summarizing this information is offered in French with English translation.

Another brochure, entitled “Metro & RER travel guide”, exists to guide step by step visitors in their use of the Parisian subway.

Multilingual vending machines selling tickets are present in most subway and RER stations.

For most used lines, within trains and on decks, prevention messages and security measures are announced in French, English, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. A good thing would to homogenize this service to every subway lines and every transport mode: RER, bus, etc.

If we take a look at buses, the city still has some way to go, indeed the bus system offers very little, if none, translations. This probably comes from the fact that tourists barely use buses as the subway is considered to be the easiest and fastest way to move and go from one place to another inside the city, as it avoids traffic.

Fortunately, several bus tours exist for tourists that want to move within Paris from one touristy spot to another conveniently. Those bus tours are very popular because routes can be tailormade to individual requirements. Ticket can bought online, on a website available in French, English, Italian, Spanish and German.

Regarding taxis, the city of Paris supports the association “Paris Capitale Taxis” which goal is to improve the quality of the ride offering taxi drivers a training to learn English and have a better understanding of the job. This offer is, of course, optional and based on volunteering. It is taxi drivers’ choice to use that service.

Methods of payment are not homogenized between the different transportation modes, like it is in Seoul. Indeed, payment and buying a ticket must be really complicated for foreign visitors as the price and the ticket will depend on where you are going and which transport you’re planning to use. Paris and its suburb are divided into several geographical zones that define the price of the ticket, so if visitors are planning to go to less touristy places outside Paris center or airports, buying a subway ticket might become difficult for them. Moreover, once a ticket has been validated in the subway for example, it cannot be used again to take the bus, even right after, and vice versa.

All of this is very complicated to understand for someone that is not used to it and it is even harder for someone that does not speak the local language. (Of course, this information is only valid for people that do not live in Paris. Parisian people own a magnetic card that makes their movements and payment easier).

Maybe the city should make an effort on this matter and try to develop a more efficient and easiest system for temporary journeys.

Nevertheless, the tourism information office offers a large range of passes to facilitate visitors’ stay in Paris, such as the “Paris city passport” which can be tailored to tourists needs according to the length of their stay and what do they want to visit. This card gives its users access to public transportation (bus, tram, subway & RER) as well as touristy spots such as museums, bus tours, etc. The aim of this product is to save time and benefit from discounts.

Looking at foreign visitors’ opinions on travelling websites and forums, we can notice that most of them would prefer to take the bus because you can see more of the city and there are no stairs to climb but using public buses in Paris as a foreigner can be quite hard so most of them use the subway to go from one place to another.

Even though adjustments concerning languages have been made already, more translations efforts should be made in stops and within transports.

Like in Seoul, buses remain difficult for foreigner to use without any preparation; thanks to its translations, map and guides, the subway system is more user-friendly for foreign visitors. The homogeneous payment system for transportation in Seoul is a great advantage compared to the various tickets Paris transportation system offers. Because calculation of the price of the ride was automatic in Seoul, foreigners are not afraid to make a mistake when buying a ticket like they can be in Paris.