I used to live in Paris while on legs, it was hard enough. Now a wheelchair user, it is very difficult without assistance. I visited just before the games and I gave to say all the issues reported are indeed very much there but it's a real improvement from what was there before - or not there. Bus drivers have been helpful in my experience, but you do need to give them a shout sometimes. I am not sure the 'stop' button at wheelchair level actually tells the driver the ramp is needed.
For boarding buses, some platforms are too narrow for a wheelchair or miss dropped curbs but on the whole it's not too bad. I have had drivers dropping me off at safer spots.
The métro is the métro, not convinced it's fit for anyone really.
Pavements are wide and smooth without a ridiculous camber and roads aren't riddled with potholes - I live in the UK.
So no excuses at all for the lack of accessibility in Paris, but it is finally trying to improve...
The TER train services going west at least, Pays de Loire and Bretagne have done major accessibility renovations, putting numerous platforms at train level - even in my home village. For the first time this summer, I could get on and off a train nearly like everyone else, provided the train had an automated ramp. This does not apply to the high speed network or the Eurostar.
I used to live in Paris while on legs, it was hard enough. Now a wheelchair user, it is very difficult without assistance. I visited just before the games and I gave to say all the issues reported are indeed very much there but it's a real improvement from what was there before - or not there. Bus drivers have been helpful in my experience, but you do need to give them a shout sometimes. I am not sure the 'stop' button at wheelchair level actually tells the driver the ramp is needed.
For boarding buses, some platforms are too narrow for a wheelchair or miss dropped curbs but on the whole it's not too bad. I have had drivers dropping me off at safer spots.
The métro is the métro, not convinced it's fit for anyone really.
Pavements are wide and smooth without a ridiculous camber and roads aren't riddled with potholes - I live in the UK.
So no excuses at all for the lack of accessibility in Paris, but it is finally trying to improve...
The TER train services going west at least, Pays de Loire and Bretagne have done major accessibility renovations, putting numerous platforms at train level - even in my home village. For the first time this summer, I could get on and off a train nearly like everyone else, provided the train had an automated ramp. This does not apply to the high speed network or the Eurostar.
So much work to do. Thanks for your newsletter!
Thank you for this on-the-ground report!
The Paris access problems were worse than I reported here. See Grace Dow's write-up about how nightmarish they were: https://gracedowwrites.com/2024/09/09/the-paralympic-games-an-accessibility-nightmare/