Take your bike, walk, work from home or even leave it Paris… Residents of the central, but also the wider area of ​​the French capital, are warned that they will have to adjust their daily routines, in order to facilitate transport during the Olympic Games.

“You shouldn’t be afraid to walk a little, it’s also good for your health”, points out Valerie Pécres, president of the Ile-de-France region, when presenting the detailed transport plan for the Olympic Games and continues: “It is a common logical, as a third of visitors to the Games will be between 25 and 35 years old, so we hope that people of that age will be able to walk.”

The metro will “sink”.

For everyday transport users, however, the situation will be difficult, as many lines will be overloaded, with the risk of waits reaching more than 15 minutes at busy platforms before boarding.

Line 10 of the metro, which runs through the beautiful Parisian neighborhoods and ends in the worldly Boulogne-Billancourt, is one of them. At 9, it is not sized to simultaneously serve Roland-Garros and the Parc des Princes, where tennis, boxing and soccer matches will be hosted.

“I’m very worried because it will be an indescribable circus,” said Arthur Pauly, a 36-year-old teacher-researcher, who is waiting for the metro at Motte-Picquet-Grenelle station in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.

At the same time, Marie Claude, a 73-year-old pensioner and regular user of line 10, will go to her summer house. As for Colleen, who works in cyber security, she says, “We are encouraged to telecommute. We might have to do a little more than usual, but maybe I’ll go work out of town if I get tired of being at home.”

Further north, the atmosphere changes radically on line 13, the network’s perennially sick and congested line. It serves popular neighborhoods in Seine-Saint-Denis, north of the capital, and above all, the Stade de France, which will fill and empty up to three times a day during the Olympics. And in this case, daily workers are asked to avoid its use.

“Shall we leave, shall we go where?”

However, these specific recommendations are only addressed to the most privileged, as the majority of Parisians do not have the luxury of these options.

“Should we leave Paris during the Olympics? And where should we go?”, asks Christian Bukassa, who is waiting for the train on the platform of La Fourche station. This 43-year-old construction worker lives in a distant suburb and needs 45 minutes every day to reach his construction site in Saint-Denis.

Neither telecommuting, nor walking or cycling are options for Bukasa: “To avoid the inconvenience, I will press my GPS and change the route.”

“Already without the Olympics, line 13 is full,” says 62-year-old nurse Nafi Uluchi, who has no choice but to work during the Olympics because public hospital workers are strongly encouraged not to take their leave during this period. “I will have to put up with the traffic during the Olympics, just like all my colleagues,” he explains.

Finally, Yaya Fofana, a parcel maker who lives in Saint-Ouen, gives a different dimension. “It will be complicated. It will be a big party though. I love the Olympics,’ he says before struggling into a crowded train with his young son in the stroller…