Transportation during the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Transportation during the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics played a critical part in getting spectators and athletes to competition venues. Over €500 million was invested in transport improvements for the Games. 

A stated goal of Paris 2024 was to halve the carbon footprint of the Olympic and Paralympic Games compared with London 2012 and Rio 2016. The organisers estimated that more than a third of the greenhouse gas emissions linked to the Games would be from the transport of athletes and spectators. To meet this goal, all venues were made accessible by bicycle and public transport. Public transport was extended and improved, and services increased. Some  of cycle paths were created, linking major venues, with 27,000 temporary bicycle racks installed. The goal of halving carbon emissions was ultimately met, with an estimated 1.59 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, which represented a 54.6% reduction compared to the London and Rio average. Of this, 53% of the carbon footprint (about 833,600 tonnes of CO2 equivalent) was incurred by vistors travelling to the games.

A mobile application was developed to facilitate spectator travel by offering a route calculator that can adapt to hazards. To assist travellers, 5,000 agents, identifiable by purple vests were deployed in the stations and at bus stops. Most bus lines were accessible to people with reduced mobility, but with limited capacity in cases of high demand, such as during the Paralympic Games, 1,000 taxis accessible to people in wheelchairs were made available. Some 150 wheelchair-accessible shuttles were provided to transport spectators from venues from an accessible station. However the vast majority of Paris Métro stations were still not accessible to all.

On 26 July 2024, the day of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, a series of arson attacks damaged lines of the French high-speed railway system. International and domestic rail services were widely disrupted, with around 800,000 passengers affected.

Background
To host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, organisers must provide transport for a wide range of groups – including athletes and officials, media and spectators. The International Olympic Committee describe transport as being "critical to the success of the Games", with some previous Games (such as Atlanta 1996) marred by transportation issues. As part of their bid for the Games in 2016, Paris stated that they had "the world's best public transport system", proposing that 100% of spectators would use free public transport, and that the compact arrangement of venues would deliver journey times for athletes and officials, media and spectators.

A stated goal of Paris 2024 was to halve the carbon footprint of the Olympic and Paralympic Games compared with London 2012 and Rio 2016. The average carbon footprint for these Games was 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent from both direct and indirect effects, such as spectator travel. Transport was an important component of this. To reduce the contribution of transport, all venues would be accessible by bicycle and public transport, and the transport fleet would include hybrid vehicles and hydrogen-powered buses.

In the Paris region, public transport is managed by Île-de-France Mobilités, which coordinates the contracts with transport companies such as RATP (the operator of the Paris Metro and some Réseau Express Régional (RER) lines) and SNCF (the French national railway operator). It became an official partner of the games in June 2022 in order to facilitate the organization of transport.

The majority of event sites were in the Paris area: 25 sites (13 in Paris and 12 in the suburbs) with 50 sessions per day for the 2024 Summer Olympics and 17 sites (10 in Paris and 7 in the suburbs) with 18 sessions per day for the 2024 Summer Paralympics, for 767 and 261 sessions respectively, including the two opening and closing ceremonies. These events involved 500,000 spectators per day for the Olympic Games and 300,000 for the Paralympic Games.

A February 2023 fact-finding mission of the National Assembly reported that "France's success in organising the Games will be judged in particular by its ability to manage the movement of people", with no fewer than 600,000 spectators, 35% of whom come from abroad, and 200,000 accredited persons will have to be transported daily. Nonetheless, the Strategic Mobility Committee did not meet for the first time until December 2022, and a national mobility coordinator for the Olympic Games, Florent Bardon, was not appointed until 8 December.

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed work on construction sites and disrupted the transport networks, forcing a halt in recruitment, numerous resignations and increased absenteeism, which led to a significant deterioration in service by the end of the summer of 2022, with a quarter of the bus services not running. The effects persisted into 2024, and by the spring nearly 10% of the RATP bus network services were not running, and only 84% of the RER C trains were on time, mainly due to the shortage of drivers at SNCF despite the resumption of driver training. In December 2023, five metro lines (13, 6, 3, 2 and 8) still had service levels below 90%, far below the previous standard of most lines.

Preparations

Over €500 million was invested in transport improvements for the Games. To meet the increased numbers of passengers on the various lines compared to a normal summer, the frequency and hours of service for public transport was increased by an average of 15%. This was concentrated in the heart of the city and at its maximum for the lines serving Olympic sites such as the RER B and RER D, tramway line T11 and Paris Metro line 14, augmented by shuttle buses. During the Games, visitors to Paris paid higher public transport fares during the Games, €4 instead of the previous €2.15 price to pay for this increased level of service.

The objective of the Paris Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games was to allow 100% of spectators to reach the Olympic and Paralympic sites by public transport. A mobile application was developed to facilitate spectator travel by offering a route calculator that can adapt to hazards. To assist travellers, 5,000 agents, identifiable by purple vests, were deployed in the stations and at the bus stops, where special signage was affixed. Venues of the Games were indicated on line maps on trains and in stations in distinctive pink.

Unlike previous years, no service interruptions related to engineering or improvement works were scheduled in the summer of 2024. Construction work were "frozen" on the network from July until the end of September. Consequently, there were numerous disruptions to services in 2023 and the first half of 2024, especially on line 14 with significant traffic interruptions over several weekends and during school holidays.

Security 
Security for the Paris region transport network was coordinated by the Paris Police Prefecture, which became solely responsible for security and public order in the Île-de-France region under the Olympic law of 19 May 2023. This law broadened the scope of video surveillance images visible to SNCF and RATP agents in the Paris region transport security coordination centre.

Commencing in the summer of 2022, transport security coordination was carried out from the Operational Security Command Center (CCOS), which brought together all stakeholders in shared premises located at the Paris Police Prefecture headquarters. The CCOS was connected to 101,000 video surveillance cameras located throughout the various transport networks. During the Olympic Games, patrols increased from 125 to 700 per day, with the number of transport police officers increased from 1,100 to 1,300. In addition to the 3,000 permanent security agents, another 5,000 temporary agents and more than 50 canine explosives detection units were deployed on the transport network to intervene when abandoned objects were discovered.

Accessibility 

In 2023, concerns were raised regarding accessibility for the Games. Lobbying group APF France Handicap said that the Paris Metro was a "big black spot on the city's Paralympic legacy". There were expectations that 350,000 fans with disabilities would be visiting Paris. 

The entire tramway network was accessible, as were the majority of Transilien stations. Most bus lines were accessible to people with reduced mobility, with Paris spending €25 million to upgrade bus stops and train staff on accessibility. Over 1,000 taxis accessible to people in wheelchairs were delivered prior to the Games. Wheelchair-accessible shuttle buses were provided to transport spectators from venues from an accessible station, with increased service during the Paralympic Games. 

However the vast majority of Metro stations were not accessible to all. The twenty stations of line 14 (which first opened in 1998) are fully accessible, and extensions of lines since 1992 have included elevators. Prior to the Paralympic Games, the Île-de-France regional president, Valérie Pécresse, announced a plan to make the Metro accessible. Île-de-France Mobilités noted that this work would take around 20 years and cost between €15 and 20 billion. International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons welcomed the commitment, specifically mentioning it during his speech at the Paralympics closing ceremony.

Public transport passes 
At the time of Paris's bid to host the Olympic Games, it was proposed that free public transport would be provided for ticket holders to attend the events, similar to London 2012. Following the surge in inflation in 2022, Paris 2024 dropped on this proposal when their budget was revised. Île-de-France Mobilités stated that it did not want to make subscribers in the Paris region pay the additional costs of increased service offered during the Games, with Île-de-France Mobilités announcing that visitors to Paris would pay higher fares for the increased service.

From 20 July to 8 September 2024, a temporary ticket called the "Paris 2024 pass" was sold, allowing for an unlimited number of journeys in Île-de-France. The pass cost €16 for one day or €70 for a week. Over the same period, the price of certain tickets was be increased: €4 for the Ticket t+, €32 for the 10-journey package with the Navigo card and €16 for an origin-destination ticket to Orly or Roissy airports. Other tourist packages were suspended, but Navigo and Navigo Liberté+ transport tickets remained unchanged for subscribers in Île-de-France.

Rail network

Extension of the network 
Several major public transport projects opened prior to the Games, with extensions of existing Paris Metro and RER lines as well as new tram lines. Projects included:
 Extension of line 4 to the south to Bagneux–Lucie Aubrac, with 2 new stations. This opened in January 2022.
 Extension of line 11 to the east to , with 6 new stations. This opened in June 2024.
 Extension of line 12 to the north to Mairie d'Aubervilliers, with 2 new stations. This opened in May 2022.
 Extension of line 14 to the north to Mairie de Saint-Ouen, with 4 new stations. This opened in December 2020.
 A further extension of line 14 to the north to a new station at Saint-Denis–Pleyel. This opened in June 2024. A  over the Paris-Lille railway lines connects the station to Stade de France–Saint-Denis on RER D, as well as to the nearby Stade de France.
 Extension of line 14 to the south to Orly Airport, with 6 new stations. This opened in June 2024.
 Extension of RER E to Nanterre–La Folie station, with 3 new stations. This opened in May 2024.
 Four new tram lines in the Île-de-France region opened since 2020, and some existing lines were extended (such as tramway 3b to Porte Dauphine).
Metro and RER lines were also upgraded and improved, with new trains (including the MP 14 and RER NG) and line 4 was converted to fully automated operation.

Some transport projects such as line 15 and CDG Express (an express link to Charles de Gaulle Airport) were not completed in time for the Games—with opening dates of 2025 and 2027 respectively.

Increased services
Despite promises prior to the Games, public transport was not free. Visitors to Paris paid higher public transport fares during the Games, €4 instead of the previous €2.15 price. This paid for the increased frequency and hours of service for public transport during the Games, with an average increase of 15% in services.

Before services were increased during the Olympics and Paralympics, they were reduced in order to allow drivers to take leave. The usual reduced summer service was brought forward a week. Except for RER A and RER B, lines K, U and R, tram lines T4, T11, T12 and T13, services were reduced by more than 10%. The reduced service was particularly noticeable on RER C and on  Transilien Line N, where the quarter-hourly frequency was not maintained, leading to wait times of 30 minutes at Clamart station.

During the Olympic Games period, however, the service was increased on key routes. While areas such as the south-east of Paris were not affected much by travel motivated by the Olympic Games, the busiest lines were metro, lines 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 14. Lines 1, 5 and 6 were also be affected due to the fan zones or places of celebration that they served. On the Transilien network, lines J (Argenteuil branch), L, N, P and U were all affected, as well as the T3b tramway, the T11 and T13 Expresses, and RER B, C and D.

To absorb the additional passengers, services were increased by 15% compared to a normal summer. Thus, the RER C (whose central section is usually closed for works over summer) saw its frequency increased to one train every five minutes. Similarly, Transilien line J was increased between Gare Saint-Lazare and Le Stade station to serve the Yves-du-Manoir stadium in Colombes, with eight trains per hour, even during off-peak times, instead of the usual four. On Transilien Line P, there were be six trains per hour to Vaires-sur-Marne, and on line N, four trains per hour.

Stations 
A project that called for a major modification of Gare du Nord station by 2024 was abandoned in favor of the €50 million Horizon 2024 project. Additional spaces were created by the reduction of certain commercial spaces. For Eurostar, the international high-speed rail service connecting Western Europe, the number of automatic passport readers was increased from 5 to 10 in order to streamline the boarding formalities that had been lengthened by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The Transilien stations' escalators were modernized and the RER platforms given increased space. The station forecourt is to be redeveloped in 2024 and reserved for pedestrians, once the taxi rank has been transferred to the underground car parks. The east side of the station is to receive a new bus station as well as a secure bicycle hall with 1,200 spaces.

Improvements were made to Vaires–Torcy station, which served the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, the venue for rowing and canoeing events, to make it accessible to people with disabilities. Accessibility and capacity works were also undertaken at Saint-Denis station. During the Games, cleaning was stepped up in 120 stations impacted by the increased number of passengers.

Stations too close to the venues for festivities or competitions were closed, most notably the Concorde and Tuileries Metro stations. The Concorde station, near the BMX freestyle, breaking, skateboarding and 3 × 3 basketball competition site at the Place de la Concorde, was closed on line 12 from 17 May to 22 September, and access to the Concorde and Tuileries stations was suspended from 17 June to 1 September. The Champs-Élysées–Clemenceau station (lines 1 and 13) was closed from 20 July to 11 August for the Olympics, and then from 20 August to 8 September for the Paralympics. A week before the Olympic opening ceremony, around ten stations overlooking the Seine were closed.

Cycling 

In the last 20 years, substantial investment has been made to walking and cycling in Paris, including pedestrianisation of public spaces such as the Place de la République, and introduction of Vélib' (a bicycle sharing system) and bicycle lanes. By April 2024, cycling was more popular than driving in the centre of Paris.

New infrastructure connected to the Games was initially limited, with the completion of cycle paths on the right bank of the Saint-Denis Canal and an footbridge built in the Olympic village. In 2022, the Collectif vélo Île-de-France pointed out that 90% of Olympic sites were not easily accessible by bicycle.

The significant growth of the use of cycling in Paris and the inner suburbs following the COVID-19 pandemic, together with fears about the reliability of the public transport network, led to the integration of cycling into the transport plan during the Olympic Games. For the Games,  of cycle lanes linked all venues to each other and 27,000 temporary bicycle racks were installed.

The  ("Olympic Works Delivery Company") (Solidéo) co-financed the creation of a cycling infrastructure for use during the Games and afterwards, including the , the , and the  (the only one reserved for delegations during the Olympic and Paralympic Games).

Apart from the Villepinte site, all venues had cycle paths and bicycle parking facilities. The Olympic venues were accessible by 418 km of cycle paths, including 55 km of "Olympists" paths (30 in Paris and 25 in Seine-Saint-Denis) developed during the year preceding the Olympic Games. Although cycling was a recommended mode of transport during the Olympic Games, some usual routes were closed, notably at the Place de la Concorde.

Road network 
As with previous Olympic and Paralympic Games, the road network of Paris and the Île-de-France region had lanes of traffic reserved for accredited vehicles.  of lanes allowed guaranteed journey times between the Olympic Village, venues and other destinations, such as the Main Press Centre at Palais des congrès de Paris. Toyota supplied organisers with a fleet of vehicles that included 500 Mirai fuel cell vehicles. Some 1,000 buses were available to transport athletes and accredited personnel. Ten special shuttle routes were provided to take accredited personnel to venues remote from railways stations.

, a subsidiary of Électricité de France (EDF), installed nearly 800 temporary electric charging stations, mostly near Porte Maillot, the Athletes' Village and Le Bourget. After the Games, these were removed and reused by EDF at its own sites to power its electric vehicle fleet. More than 3.1 million km was driven in renewable electric Paris 2024 vehicles during the Games, consumed 474 MWh. The electricity was supplied by EDF from six wind and two solar generation sites. 

Compared to a normal summer, the frequency of bus services was higher during the Games, but almost all routes in Paris were modified. Due to the areas occupied by the competition or celebration sites, several bus lines had to be diverted before, during, and after the Olympic Games. Sixteen bus routes were diverted for the duration of the Games, starting with 10 at the beginning of spring to permit the assembly of certain installations, with six other bus routes diverted in May and then in early June.

During the Olympics, 190 bus routes (58% of the 330 RATP routes in the "central zone") had to be modified at one time or another, with simultaneous peaks of over 100 on 26 July, the day of the opening ceremony, and on 3 August for the road cycling race. The Noctilien night bus network was reinforced during the events, particularly near festive venues such as the Grande halle de la Villette, with three services per hour instead of two.

Full details of traffic restrictions were not announced until March 2024, making it difficult for transport and public works companies to plan their operations for the summer of 2024. During the competition period, 185 kilometres of roads in the Paris region were partially reserved for accredited persons, transport and emergency services by decree no. 2022-786 of 4 May 2022.

During the Olympic and Paralympic Games, one lane on certain roads was reserved between 6 a.m. to midnight for vehicles of persons accredited by the Paris Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games (COJOP), taxis, public transport vehicles, vehicles intended to facilitate the transport of persons with reduced mobility, and emergency and security vehicles. Checks were undertaken with automatic number-plate recognition, and violations of these rules were punishable by a fine of 135 euros.

Roads with reserved lanes included:

 the A1 autoroute from Roissy to Porte de la Chapelle,
 the A4 autoroute between Collégien and ,
 the A13 autoroute between Porte Maillot and Rocquencourt, 
 the A12 autoroute between Rocquencourt and Montigny-le-Bretonneux and route nationale 13,
 the Boulevard Périphérique between  and ,
 .

To allow easy access to and from the Olympic Village, the A1 autoroute ramps from  to Saint-Denis were closed to general traffic. To maintain the possibility of entering and exiting the A86 autoroute, the Pleyel interchange was rebuilt with two new traffic directions.

River network 
The branch of the Seine which passes through the Olympic Village was closed from mid-July to 8 September. River traffic was transferred to the West arm. Not normally used, the section of river required improvements in order to make it navigable, such as dredging and piloting facilities, at a cost of €15 million. Navigation on the Seine was prohibited around the Olympic opening ceremony on 26 July, and for open water swimming and triathlon events.

Airports 
Paris is served by two large international airports—Charles de Gaulle Airport and Orly Airport. Both are connected to the Paris public transport network, with the opening of the extension of Line 14 to Orly Airport just prior to the Games. CDG Express—an express line connecting Charles de Gaulle Airport to Gare de l'Est in the city centre—was not completed in time for the Games, and will open in 2027. Some private jets also arrived at Paris–Le Bourget Airport. Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports had to handle a large proportion of the arrivals and departures of 64,000 accredited persons and 47,000 items of sports equipment, including 4,000 large items such as kayaks and bicycles. The flows were massive, particularly from 18 July, the opening date of the Olympic Village, after the Olympic closing ceremony, and again before and after the Paralympic Games. For security reasons, the airspace across northern France was closed during the Olympics opening ceremony.

The organisers estimated that more than a third of the greenhouse gas emissions linked to the Olympic Games would be from the transport of athletes and spectators. While it was difficult to avoid air transport for most national delegations, the Belgian, British and Dutch national committees committed to arriving by train. To facilitate the movement of delegations from the Olympic Village to the Paris region airports, Groupe ADP (which owns and operates the Paris airports) built a baggage check-in area at the Olympic Village, so the largest bags could be transported directly to the airports. A temporary bus station was being built on the eastern edge of the Olympic Village to transport athletes and support staff to the competition and training sites.

Disruption 

On 26 July 2024, the day of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, a series of arson attacks damaged the LGV Atlantique, Nord, and Est lines of the French high-speed railway system. International and domestic rail services were widely disrupted, with around 800,000 passengers affected. There was also an attempted attack on LGV Sud-Est line, though it was interrupted by TGV maintenance workers who happened to be on site.

Outcome 
Paris 2024's goal of halving carbon emissions was ultimately met, with an estimated 1.59 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This represented a 54.6% reduction compared to the London and Rio average. Of this, 53% of the carbon footprint (about 833,600 tonnes of CO2 equivalent) was incurred by people travelling to the games. This was greater than anticipated: partly because ticket sales exceeded expectations, and partly because a large number of spectators came from outside Europe. With ticket sales of €1,489 million, Paris 2024 exceeded its ticketing and hospitality revenue targets by €348 million, and generated a surplus of more than €26.8 million.

All of the venues were served by public transport, and three-quarters of those in the Île-de France region had a public transport stop within 500 metres. As a result, 87% of spectators used public transport to attend the games. The provision of  of cycling routes and 27,000 temporary bicycle places enabled 5% of spectators to cycle during the games.

References 

2024 Summer Olympics
2024 Summer Paralympics
2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics