Taxis drivers in Paris are voicing their disappointment at the low level of activity since the start of the Olympic Games – due to a lack of customers – and are calling for state compensation.
According to a letter sent by taxi unions to the France's transport m"inistry on Thursday, the Olympic Games have proved "a great disappointment" for the industry: "demand is still at a low ebb and the very exercise of the business is deeply hampered by these Games for the entire profession".
For the unions, Olympic spectators who have come for the Games are not mitigating the "impact of traffic restrictions, the closure of venues and the dissuasion of regular customers".
Taxi drivers are now calling on the state to create a financial compensation fund "covering the entire period of privatisation of event sites and public spaces – from March to the end of October 2024".
Olympic traffic restrictions
They believe that the slowdown in activity began in the spring of 2024, with the traffic restrictions associated with the initial construction of Olympic venues and the privatisation of a large number of event venues in the Ile-de-France region, such as the Stade de France and La Défense Arena, as well as elsewhere in the country – particularly in the Marseille region.
Business in June 2024 was much weaker than in 2023 because of the Games, they point out.
For taxi driver Anissa Dinic, the average amount of clients she has driven during the Olympic Games number "between 5 and 6 journeys a day", which she says is "very low".
'Critical situation'
Since the beginning of July, "government communications to encourage city dwellers to take holidays or telework, to dissuade visitors, and the organisation of professional events, have led to an additional drop in activity".
And since 18 July, the introduction of security perimeters and the closure of many taxi ranks in the Olympic zones have "drastically restricted taxi activity".
The unions warn that taxis are now "in a critical situation, with charges rising and incomes falling by as much as 40 or even 50 percent in some situations".
In Ile-de-France, almost 90 percent of drivers affiliated to the G7 taxi network had indicated that they intended to work during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In particular, they hoped to take advantage of the Olympic lanes on the main roads – to which tourist vehicles and hackney cabs do not have access – to save time on the ring road around the capital or from the airports.
Business – particularly from major business accounts – usually falls by 40 percent in the summer, but it was stable in London during the 2012 Olympics, when Londoners were replaced by visitors.
