Public transport benefits from new deadlines to complete the work that will make these places accessible to the disabled. In Paris, the RATP has already started this mission well, except for the metro, excluded from the dispositf.
A few days ago, the National Assembly definitively ratified the ordinance providing for new deadlines for the accessibility of public places to the disabled. With this act, which greatly displeased the associations, the deputies took note of the impossibility of achieving the initial objective set for January 1, 2015.
As a result, public and private actors who have not complied with the accessibility obligation must now submit to the town hall or the prefecture, by October 2015, a ” programmed accessibility agenda ”(Ad’ap), in which they undertake to carry out the work within a certain timeframe. For transport, for example, the maximum periods will be three years (urban transport), six years (interurban) and nine years (rail). And no one will be able to escape it since those who do not submit their project will be liable to a sanction now set at 2,500 euros, in addition to criminal proceedings.
In this context, many Ile-de-France residents are asking themselves questions: how will Île-de-France transport manage to meet standards? Will we have to completely rethink the configuration of the Paris metro? Are new buses going to emerge? To answer these questions, Why actor contacted Marie-Christine Raoult, responsible for the “accessibility” mission at RATP (1).
Today, what is the assessment of the “accessibility” mission at RATP?
Marie-Christine Raoult : RATP has been working on accessibility for a long time, even before the Disability law of February 11, 2005. Our assessment is more than positive since 100% of Parisian bus lines (63 in total) are accessible to the disabled. To declare a line accessible, 70% of the stops must comply with standards, that is to say laid out on the road to be made accessible. All our buses are equipped with retractable pallets; 98% are equipped with audio announcements and 96% with visual announcements.
On suburban lines, the problem is more complicated because the stopping points are spread over different municipalities and departments. There, we are rather around 60% of accessible lines. But to reach 100%, municipalities and local authorities still have to include a certain number of works in their budgets. We work on this subject on a daily basis (with STIF) with several road departments. We have six years to get there, so don’t worry, we’ll be well on schedule.
Regarding the rail network, is the result similar?
Marie-Christine Raoult : It depends on the network. All the tram lines operated in the region are accessible and have been equipped as soon as they were built. The operation of two RER lines (A and B) is shared with the SNCF. For our part, today, 62 stations out of 65 are accessible, that is to say equipped with elevators.
In these places, there are also station agents to whom people with disabilities can request access to the RER. When called upon, they place a pallet on one of the doors of the train to help the person to board the RER. Then the agent calls his colleague at the destination station to have someone greet the person in the wheelchair upon arrival.
To be precise, the three stations where there is still work to be done are: Nanterre-Université (RER A), which will be ready between December-January 2016, Luxembourg station in Paris (RER B) and La Croix de Berny to Antony (RER B). For the latter two, again, we will be ready within the time limits provided by law, a priori in 2019.
Accessibility to the Paris metro is still problematic?
Marie-Christine Raoult : The historic Parisian metro network is not part of the accessibility deadlines imposed by law. It was not originally designed to allow elevator equipment in all stations. There are many causes of technical infeasibility which are considerable. In particular because the Parisian subsoil is a real Gruyère cheese and that it is not only the RATP which is present there. Another constraint is the emergence of elevators on the road. You can imagine getting several out on the Champs-Elysées, or in other districts, is not easy.
Finally, this upgrading is all the more complex as in France, we have safety standards that do not exist in other countries. For example, it is compulsory to set up a secure waiting area in each station to provide shelter in the event of a fire to people who cannot exit the stairs. However, we are working on improving accessibility to the metro for people with sensory or cognitive disabilities by installing sound markers, lighting devices, fixed staircase equipment. . We have 4 test stations (Château de Vincennes, Olympiades, Reuilly-Diderot and Nanterre-Préfecture).
So, what is the solution to solve the problem of the metro?
Marie-Christine Raoult : We do not refrain from continuing to work on the subject. For example, all metro line extensions (4, 14, 11, 12) will be completely accessible to people in wheelchairs, as is line 14 (Olympiades-Saint-Lazare) today. Regarding the future line of Grand Paris, the society of the same name associated the mission on the definition of needs in terms of accessibility. And here again, it is planned that all stations in Grand Paris will be equipped with elevators.
Important note, we are working a lot on the bus, because it is registered by law as being the substitute network for the metro.
How will the disabled cope with the problem of crowded transport?
Marie-Christine Raoult : On our new buses for example (which are in the process of arriving), there will be two additional spaces for people in wheelchairs (in each of the elements of an articulated bus). For those who don’t know, the RATP also has a bus regulation center. When a person in a wheelchair arrives at a crowded stop, the driver can call the center to find out if the next bus will be able to pick them up. If this is the case, he can inform the traveler.
In addition, STIF, the organizing authority for transport in Ile-de-France, regularly acts as reinforcements on bus and tram lines.
When we reach an incompressible interval, for example on the RER A, with trains every 2 minutes in rush hour, we find other solutions. On the RER A, we are thus in the process of generalizing two-level trains to offer approximately + 30% in the long term.
(1) Autonomous Parisian transport authority
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