Let's be honest: When Transport Minister Clément Beaune warned on Tuesday, November 14 that travel conditions in the Paris region will be "hardcore" (he used the English word) in the summer of 2024, during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, he both surprised us, in terms of the tone of his remark, and puzzled us, in terms of the resulting (and intended?) effect.
It was surprising because, with the words he chose to use, Beaune broke with months of statements by the various Paris 2024 authorities that were deliberately cheerful, optimistic, polished and without too much acerbity. Basically, "everything's going very well."
This is one of the first times that one of the major authorities has opted to say something raw and truthful to describe the reality of what is one of the major challenges of organizing the Games: Yes, this transportation issue is complicated; yes, it doesn't look like it will be easy to prepare for.
But here begins our perplexity. What is the minister for transport, and the government in general, trying to achieve by portraying in this manner a summer that promises to be complicated in terms of travel in and around Paris?
Majority of Paris region residents ready to leave the capital
His statement comes as a complicated period begins, with the presentation of the constraints and inconveniences that the Games will entail. In order to get through this stage without too many issues, the government will have to inform people in advance and explain things in a transparent way, so that all those who will be affected are in a position where they don't just have to put up with it.
Is abruptly announcing a "hardcore" summer the best way to achieve this? Beaune did add that there will be "an information campaign," a presentation "by the end of November, or at the very beginning of December at the latest, of the traffic plans" and "a consultation phase until the beginning of next year" with players in the economic sector – notably the hotel and restaurant industries, to whom he was speaking on Tuesday.
However, at the same time, the transport minister also hinted that it would be important to "make sure that we have a little less superfluous travel during the Games." Added to his pessimistic description of summer 2024, the comment suggests that, if the government were trying to convince Parisians and residents of the Ile-de-France region to be absent from the capital and its environs during the Games, it would hardly be going about it any differently.
Frankly, if this is the case, there is little need to make many other alarmist statements in this vein. The region's inhabitants already seem reluctant to stick around this summer: Fifty-two percent of them say they are willing to leave, according to a survey by Odoxa.
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