The world is looking to Paris these days – the Summer Olympics have finally begun! Padam Mobility is also at the starting line for this gigantic sporting event to ensure the mobility of everyone who wants to be transported to and from the sports venues. But how exactly does this mammoth task of transporting tens of thousands of spectators take place while a city is in an exceptional state?
With the help of Padam Mobility’s dynamic on-demand transport for people with limited mobility, Île-de-France Mobilités, the authority responsible for planning and commissioning public transport in the greater Paris area, offers a transport service for people with disabilities and their carers. The idea behind it?
Providing tens of thousands of spectators with reduced mobility with a reliable and adapted public transport service.
To this end, optimised network coverage will connect the departments of Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val d’Oise with the city of Paris during the competitions.
Until mid-September 2024, this service will enable spectators to travel smoothly to the competition venues from the eight main Parisian railway stations.
It is expected that this service will carry up to 4,000 passengers per day from 26 July to 11 August. In the following period from 28 August to 8 September, 2500 passengers are to be transported daily. To be able to cope with these numbers, the fleet of 150 minibuses will be flexibly adapted to demand.
How does the booking of this special service work?
To use this on-demand service for people with reduced mobility, users should follow the steps below:
Firstly, it is necessary to book a “wheelchair space” ticket for a sporting event on the sales platform, by ticking the “Person in wheelchair” box. Once the ticket has been received, an email is sent with a link to book the shuttle. The event, the session and the departure station should then be selected and the details of the journey configured, such as the type of wheelchair and whether an accompanying person will be joining the journey.
On the day of the event, the shuttle bus departs from a fixed point either to the departure station or to the venue. The Paratransit service uses shuttles that are suitable for wheelchair users and are operated by trained staff. The shuttles travel to locations such as the Stade de France, the Eiffel Tower and the Parc des Princes. If the route changes, information is sent to the passenger in real time by e-mail and/or text message.
Background on TAD IDFM – the largest on-demand service worldwide, which has been operated with Padam Mobility’s on-demand system since 2019
TAD IDFM was developed by Padam Mobility in 2019 and quickly became the world’s widest-coverage transport-on-demand (TàD) service. In fact, TAD IDFM now covers 70% of the greater Paris area, up from 8% in 2019.
This service is characterised by the technical depth of its functionality.
In collaboration with Setec its, we have set up a standardised booking and management platform for Île-de-France Mobilités. This on-demand service not only enables the coordination of the various transport companies via a centralised management interface, but also ensures the implementation of several on-demand transport models available in seventy municipalities. The TAD IDFM service currently records an average of 70,000 trips per month.
What innovations are needed to climb the winner’s podium?
Over 200 areas worldwide rely on our on-demand solutions to improve the everyday mobility of their inhabitants. Sharing on-demand and paratransit services, for example, not only improves the inclusion of people with reduced mobility, but also complements traditional public transport (e.g. bus lines) while reducing the cost of these services for the general public. To find out more, you can download the case study on merging public transport and Paratransit. The gold medal can be won when our customers and passengers feel completely at ease with the public transport offer. Like in Orléans, for example, where Padam Mobility’s solutions are now fully integrated into the local passenger information app – a ground-breaking success on the way to a nationwide Mobility-as-a-Service offering.
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