As of next month, public sector employees in France will receive a 75% subsidiary on public transport fees as the government seeks to encourage alternatives to individual car use. 

From 1st September, workers in the public sector will see public transportation subsidies paid by the state boosted by a full 25% starting 1st September.

The new decree, which was published in the Official Journal on 23rd August, covers all workers in the public realm, whether they be contract staff or civil servants, and raises the coverage of costs from 50% off ticket prices to 75%.

Employers will be obliged to take care of the related costs, but employees must take the shortest possible journeys from their residence to the workplace in order to be in compliance with the new rules.

WHAT’S COVERED 

The transport tickets concerned are multimodal subscriptions, which allow the use of different types of public transport including train or bus, as well as annual, monthly or weekly renewal subscriptions to unlimited or limited journeys serviced by the RATP, the SNCF, private transport companies belonging to the professional organisation of transport of Île-de-France (Optile) or any other public passenger transport company. Subscriptions to public bicycle rental services are also included. 

This is clearly intended to get people out of cars and onto greener forms of transportation to get to and from the workplace, and is a part of an overall environmental strategy initiated by the French government.  

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Photo source: Manki Kim, Unsplash