During the 2024 Olympic Games, travel will be limited in Paris. To circulate in certain areas, you will need a QR code, to be obtained on a dedicated platform. Here is everything you need to know about this digital sesame. .
Rail problems, risk of attack, high ticket prices, scams, requisition of student accommodation, damaged seabed, expulsion of homeless people, high price of public transport tickets – which were initially supposed to be free… The less than the we can say is that the Paris Olympic Games, which will be held from July 26 to August 11, 2024, seem much more difficult to organize than expected! Overall, mobility in and around the capital is likely to become more complex, particularly with the millions of tourists expected. However, for safety reasons, motorists and pedestrians will not be able to move freely in certain areas of the capital and in Île-de-France this summer. Only people benefiting from an exemption, to be presented during checks, will be able to avoid this ban..“We will be particularly vigilant to ensure that no dangerous person can access the security perimeters”warns Gérald Darmanin in an interview at the Parisian. This is a system that is reminiscent of the one put in place during confinement!
Paris 2024 Olympic Games: heavily controlled traffic
The car space should be greatly reduced during the two periods of competition. Near stadiums, halls and other test sites, and more particularly within traffic perimeters determined by law enforcement, priority will be given to pedestrians and cyclists. The circulation of two- and four-wheeled motorized vehicles will be completely prohibited, except upon presentation of an exemption. Obviously, convoys of athletes, delegations, journalists and event organizers will also have the right to travel. Taxis and VTCs should also be authorized there if they drop someone off and only if they have proof.
“You will receive a QR code on your phone or tablet, and you can print it. You will start using it one week before, from the moment the security perimeter becomes waterproof. Pedestrian or non-pedestrian, you will have to present your QR code and your identity document during the check. Once within this perimeter, your freedom will be total”explains the Minister of the Interior.
Olympic Pass: which areas are affected by the QR code?
To travel in certain areas, you will therefore need to have a certificate. “The principle is to leave it open. But yes, we will have to justify the fact that we are entering the perimeter”, explained the police chief last November. The authorities have currently demarcated four security perimeters. There will first be “an organizing perimeter where only accredited people (athletes, staff, organization, journalists, service providers, etc.) or those with a ticket enter”. Then, there will be a protection perimeter, said Silt, (for Internal Security and the Fight against Terrorism), which will be deployed as close as possible to the waterway where athletes and Olympic delegations will sail. It is a strict control perimeter, in which you will have to be searched. Then come the red zones, the principle of which is the ban on movement, except in the case of an exemption. Finally, the blue perimeters will limit through traffic. “We only want to let in the car those who live, work or want to go to a business or restaurant,” had justified Laurent Nuñez. You will therefore need to be able to justify your trip in the event of an inspection. “The principle is the ban on motorized traffic, and the exception, the exemption“, he summarized. All the restrictions will not be “activated only during competitions, 2.5 hours before the start of the events and up to one hour afterwards.”
The Silt protection perimeter is concentrated around the stage, on the left bank from Ivry-sur-Seine, before going up to the heart of the capital. It includes all of the Parisian quays, the Île Saint-Louis, the Île de la Cité, but also emblematic places, such as the Louvre, the Tuileries garden, the Trocadéro, connected by secure access to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, as well as the Champ de Mars. Note that the Austerlitz station will be included in the zone and that around fifteen metro stations will be closed. Those in the immediate vicinity of the Olympic site of course, to ensure that we can search everyone who enters the perimeter, but also certain stations close to the sites, because they will be too small. The precious sesame will be necessary to cross the area from July 19, one week before the opening ceremony scheduled for July 26, and throughout the duration of the Olympics.
To obtain the precious document, “you will need to register in advance on a digital platform by providing a certain number of supporting documents, address but not only”. Be careful though! Exemptions will be limited and only certain categories of people will be able to request them. It will be possible to register from May 10. You will need to indicate your last name, first name, date of birth, etc. “If you have not registered, you will not be able to enter”warns Gérald Darmanin.
“For the most vulnerable people, those who do not have access to the Internet, the city of Paris, with which we work closely, has provided the possibility of obtaining a badge or proof. Other communities are on the same idea Proximity”, However, Laurent Nuñez indicated last November. For his part, the Minister of the Interior promises that the police forces mobilized “will make discernment: if a 95-year-old gentleman arrives with his identity document, we will do the work with him”. An information campaign, with door-to-door visits and leaflets distributed in mailboxes, is planned. The police chief is expected to officially unveil the QR code system in the coming days.