The Local (France edition)
"The days of the classic cardboard Paris metro ticket are numbered as the French capital launches its version of London’s Oyster Card."
https://www.thelocal.fr/20190518/this-card-will-start-replacing-paris-metro-tickets-on-june-12th
(The Navigo Easy card was originally to have been introduced in April. By September, Paris Métro riders with Samsung smartphones will be able to use an app to enter the Métro. This feature will not be available right away to iPhone users.)
Thanks, I've been waiting to know when it will start.
I know nothing about Oyster cards so i wish The Local had explained it in more detail. I assume it’s a plastic (?) card that you keep adding to via a machine in the mêtro... is that about right?
We can keep using paper tickets until the summer of 2020 which is good because I'm sure there will bugs in this system. For instance where do those of us who can not get into the metro go to purchase these cards? For instance will they be set up to allow for bus transfers?
However, I must say the roll out of the new bus routes and bus changes went smoothly.
Susan, that's correct.
A London Underground Oyster Card and (for that matter) a Washington, D.C. Metro SmarTrip Card let riders top up the fare value on their plastic cards. I believe both Oyster Cards and SmarTrip cards use chip card technology.
I wonder why the Paris Métro didn't adopt this system much ealier.
What about the weekly Navigo cards? I just bought a new one. Will they still work?
Thank you Mark. That’s helpful info.
Kateja, there will still be Navigo Découverte passes. The Easy Card just replaces paper tickets.
75020, i assume Tabacs will sell the Easy Card, just like paper tickets, so you won’t need to go into the mêtro.
Thanks. In the long run it would be handier to have a card you can top off, or a phone app.
So I am guessing I can't load this new smartcard type material onto an existing ND but will have to have the new card?
The Easy card has had many announced start dates. April was last definitive start date. I have found nothing on the Navigo or RATP websites specifying when the Navigo Easy will be available.
Le Parisien announced two days ago that the Navigo Easy goes on sale June 12th. I´ll check again June 12th.
Kateja, the ND gives a better discount, is less expensive per ride than paper tickets/Easy Card.
All Navigo fares used on the Navigo or Navigo Découverte cards are passes. Fares for the Easy card are all ticket equivalents.
Any cost comparison would be a function of need and usage. There are many itineraries where the Easy card would be less expensive per ride than a Navigo fare. An important advantage of the Easy card is that it is not user specific. Navigo cards are user specific.
Beginning this September, either passes or tickets may be loaded onto newer models of Samsung mobile phones. Phones are to be used in the same way as Navigo or Easy cards. Available information has not yet so stated but I assume that functionality of mobile phone use will require one´s having a French bank account.
Another small advantage might be the Easy card would be good for short stays in Paris (say, a three or four day weekend trip) where it does not make financial sense to purchase a Navigo weekly pass (still a Monday-Sunday pass). Won't have to keep those paper tickets for Metro exits!
Yes, of course, a visitor still needs to compare cost of ND vs Easy Card/paper tickets based on their usage, the same as before.
any update on this? will it still debut on wednesday?
Still no information on the RATP web site although there are directions for setting up one's involvement in the trial of the new Navigo Liberte which requires a French bank account. I think the Navigo Easy is still a while away.
i did find this
https://parisbytrain.com/navigo-easy/
seems to say its starting the 12th
but not much other fanfare about it
Here is the official announcement referencing the Easy´s start date of 12 June:
https://www.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/actualites/evolution-titres-de-transport-ile-de-france/
I confess I didn't believe but it's really going to happen. I'm interested in seeing how it works and would like to read about users' experiences.
I was in Paris before the official "start date" and many people were already using the cards instead of the tickets routinely. Larger stations already had lanes dedicated to "cards only" use while others would take either the card or tickets.
Paris has seen the light and the transition is clearly already a done deal and I would expect the gates that take tickets to slowly become the minority as the deadline for the end of tickets approaches.
=Tod
PS For the first time ever in Paris we were stopped on several different occasions in different locations as they were spot checking people for valid tickets and/or cards. If you are using tickets remember to keep them until you exit the metro! And then do throw them away so you don't have a bunch of expired tickets in your pocket when challenged. That... um, happened to a... a friend of mine, you know.
I was in Paris for a couple of days this week and got a Navigo Easy after the leftover tickets from my previous trip ran out. Absolutely no hassle at all, the card itself only costs 2 euros and you don't need any kind of ID to get one. It isn't quite as flexible as an Oyster, though, as you still need to load specific tickets onto the Easy rather than a sum of money as you do on Oyster. It also can currently handle only T+ tickets and day passes, you can't yet use it for point-to-point tickets when using the RER or Transilien outside the central Paris zone.
