Metro Ticket Prices Have Risen
In September, six million people across the world took to the streets to raise awareness for climate change. The changing environment has been at the forefront of conversation for months, and Paris transportation is taking a step towards a greener city. If you do not have a Navigo card, you might have noticed the rise in ticket prices last week. In an effort to convince Parisians to use more environmentally friendly transportation options, a pack of ten tickets, or a carnet, has risen 13 percent, from €14.90 to €16.90. Other forms of tickets’ prices will not be increasing.
To encourage paper ticket alternatives the Navigo Easy was launched earlier this summer. It was introduced for those who don’t use the metro frequently enough for monthly payments but would like to store individual tickets. The “Easy” is a reusable plastic card that costs €2 and can be charged with tickets and carnets for use as needed. Paris transportation has also introduced a mobile option for Navigo holders. Those who use Samsung and Orange can now access Pass Navigo on their cell phones.
550 million single ride metro tickets are sold per year, and they can take up to a year to decompose, so Paris transport is hoping to end the sale of paper tickets altogether.
Paris Metro. Image Credit: Pixbay/ dnvoac
For some students, like Drew Barnes, the change in ticket prices came as a surprise. Barnes is a freshman at AUP and hasn’t gotten around to buying a Navigo yet. So far, this semester, he has just used paper tickets. He noticed that the price of tickets went up last week. “I thought I had enough coins to get tickets,” he says, “but I didn’t and got stuck in the metro for a little while,” Barnes said that had heard that a change in price but wasn’t exactly sure when it would happen.
The rise in ticket prices does not seem excessively high but, Lydia Wiernek, a freshman at AUP, points out that after a while, those extra €2 could add up. Wiernik adds that after hearing how her single-use tickets impact the planet, she is willing to give them up for a Navigo.
For now, all non-paper forms of metro tickets are safe, but if you're sticking with paper you'll have to pay the new environmental tax.
