France’s transport chief hopes Paris will be running at 70 per cent capacity on public transport when Coronavirus lockdown ends in May

France’s transport chief hopes Paris will be running at 70 per cent capacity on public transport when Coronavirus lockdown ends in May.

FRENCH RATP boss Catherine Guillouard has said today (Friday) that the transport authorities were working towards having 70 per cent of the Paris transport network operational by May 11 ready for when France exits its lockdown.

Making sure 70 per cent of the transport network was running would be equivalent to delivering about eight million trips a day, she told French radio. The system is currently at 4 per cent capacity, or 500,000 trips a day.

RATP employees have been supplied with masks, Guillouard said. However, social distancing, on the other hand, will not be possible. “It’s absolutely not a question of profitability but of feasibility,” she said. If the RATP insisted on social distancing, they would only be able to provide about two million trips per day, she added.

Guillouard also urged companies to continue allowing employees to work remotely “for a while” and to stagger their working hours. Additionally, the government would have to allow her agents to issue tickets to anyone not wearing a mask on public transportation.