“To report is to give up”: Valérie Pécresse does not intend to backtrack on the file of the Parisian buses of the RATP. The president of Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) said she was ready, on Monday, for “a gradual implementation” of the opening up to competition, while the end of the monopoly scheduled for the end of 2024 could lead to strikes during the Olympics.
“The date of this opening to competition must remain January 1, 2025. And we will be ready for this deadline”, declared Valérie Pécresse to the Figaro, while a bill by Communist MP Stéphane Peu aims for a postponement to December 31, 2028. bus from the greater Parisian crown ”where the process launched in 2021 is still in progress, added the elected official (LR). “Today, we awarded 30 of the 37 prizes at stake (in the outer suburbs). This is the model that I defend for Parisian buses. »
Jean-Paul Bailly at the controls
After a few hiccups, IDFM set up “a unique social charter in Europe which made it possible to succeed in this operation and reassure employees”, noted Valérie Pécresse. She recalled having instructed the former boss of the RATP and La Poste Jean-Paul Bailly to work on the implementation of competition. “There was great concern among RATP agents about the terms of a possible transfer to another operator. Little by little, Jean-Paul Bailly brings them answers that reassure them. »
According to Valérie Pécresse, “if adopted, the bill to postpone the opening to competition in Parisian buses for four years would block this ongoing convergence process. This must be examined on Tuesday by the National Assembly’s Sustainable Development Committee.
“My course of action from the start has been to say ‘let’s be pragmatic'”, for his part said Friday the Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune, in a hurry to delay the opening to competition by a front going from the left to a few macronists. “Opening up to competition is neither a swear word nor a totem. The idea is that it works, (that we have) public service that works, at least as well and if possible better. (…) If it takes a few more months, let’s take a few more months”, he added, without taking a clear position on the bill.