2024 Olympics: transport, security, and summer bonuses… the Games Organizing Committee still has work to do

Les organisateurs et l'Etat ont encore du pain sur la planche pour que les JO de Paris se déroulent sereinement à l'été 2024. MAXPPP – Alexis Sciard

Security, transport, summer bonuses: the organizers and the State still have work to do to ensure that the Paris Olympics take place peacefully in the summer of 2024. Review of the main challenges to be overcome.

Transport, ready or not ready?

In the face of "exploitation incidents" of certain metro lines and unreasonable waits at bus stops, residents of Ile-de-France are skeptical about the capacity of transport to accommodate the 600 to 800,000 additional travelers per day for the Olympics. A concern publicly relayed by the PS mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, which immediately made the executive shout.

Don't panic, add the operators. "We firmly intend to continue to improve gradually in 2024, by the end of March, between now and the Games”, launched the CEO of RATP , ex-Prime Minister Jean Castex, calling for "the spirit of Coubertin" and "teamwork" facing criticism this time from IDF regional president Valérie Pécresse.

Métros en panne, incidents à répétition… mais que se passe-t-il sur la ligne 14 ?
➡️ https://t.co/PnrsXDADDu pic.twitter.com/UXtqeItkWJ

— Le Parisien | JO 🥇 (@leparisien2024) January 16, 2024

Several dozen people from RATP and SNCF look at each competition exit/entry, hour by hour to plan frequencies and distribute flows. A special application will be dedicated to transport in Ile-de-France, the offer of which will be increased by 15%. As for the work on line 14, which aims to connect Orly to the Olympic village of Saint-Denis, it is still expected that it will be completed in June.

Security: additional soldiers?

While France is in "attack emergency" since the assassination of a professor on October 13 in Arras, the security of the Olympics remains a crucial question, in particular for the unprecedented opening ceremony on the Seine.

In Paris, you will have to show your credentials to drive by car near the Olympic sites and around the Seine, according to the security perimeters published in December by the police headquarters.

JO de Paris 2024 : près de 20 000 militaires seront mobilisés pour assurer la sécurité
➡️ https://t.co/qSJHWxbGRRhttps://t.co/qSJHWxbGRR

— Sud Ouest (@sudouest) January 17, 2024

As for the private security agents (between 17 and 22,000) who must ensure the security of the sites (excluding fan zones), we still do not know if the numbers will be there because the sector is in difficulty. Will it be necessary to mobilize more soldiers than planned? Last week, the Chief of Staff of the Army, Pierre Schill, gave the figure of almost ” ;20,000 army men" mobilized for the Olympics, higher than that of 15,000 press releases so far.

Overtime: negotiations to be completed

So that everyone is on deck in the summer of 2024 – nurses, bus and metro drivers, and especially police officers – negotiations have been underway for months already.

If in certain sectors, such as air traffic controllers for example, an agreement has been adopted, in others such as the police it is not finished. Police unions are putting pressure on: hundreds of civil servants demanded “Olympic bonuses” last week, while threatening not to respond this summer.

For transport, negotiations are underway at RATP and SNCF. MAXPPP – Vincent Isore

"Without exceptional measures, without prior agreement, the Olympics will be without us", warned the boss of the Alliance union Fabien Vanhemelryck.

At the Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) after an agreement, its application in terms of equality and transparency caused teeth to grind, and discussions have resumed.

For transport, negotiations are underway at RATP and SNCF. "We are at the start of the negotiations, so we'll see how things progress”, the general secretary of the CFDT-Cheminots, Thomas Cavel, assured in mid-January.

Tahiti, Châteauroux, sites under surveillance

Surfing in Tahiti went through some great turbulence for several weeks but the situation seems to have calmed down at the end of 2023. The now famous judges' tower in the middle of the lagoon at Teahupo… o, should finally be installed despite the opposition of part of the local population worried about the consequences on the environment.

Tahiti will host the surfing events during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. MAXPPP – WSL

At the beginning of December, a barge used for technical tests damaged coral, reigniting the controversy. But an agreement was reached with environmental associations and Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson.

In Châteauroux, which inherited the shooting events initially planned in Seine-Saint-Denis, the road to the Olympics does not seem so simple. Nearly 25,000 nights pre-reserved by the organizing committee were ultimately canceled in mid-December, causing disillusionment among professionals. The cancellation of a fan zone, planned by the town hall, also fuels tension.