A Baby Born on the Paris Metro Will Get Free Rides Until Age 25
Talk about the birthday gift that keeps on giving.
A woman riding the metro in Paris unexpectedly gave birth on the train Monday. Despite the gridlock that arose from the chaos, Paris' Independent Transport Authority (RATP) rewarded the newborn baby with 25 years of free metro rides.
The woman was traveling on the A line at Auber station when she went into labor. Naturally, the line (@RER_A) live-tweeted the happenings in French.
The train line's traffic was halted while the woman gave birth and continued to be disrupted after the fact. After the baby was born, the train had paramedics take the mother and baby to the nearest clinic. The train then sent out a warm congratulations to the mother and happily welcomed the baby, assuring that the two were doing well.
The line then announced that the baby would be receiving free transport until age 25, which TPG thinks is a decent deal for just being born, albeit on a train. RATP's Navigo annual travel pass, which allows for unlimited travel, translates to about $960 USD per year for access to all zones – that's a $24,000 compensation over the 25 years, assuming it's used.
Translated from French by Microsoft:
Line A is pleased to announce that the ? newly born will benefit from free transport throughout the network #RATP until its 25th birthday.
We assume that the birth was probably not the most glamorous situation, so the form of compensation from the RATP was a nice gesture. For some reason, it doesn't seem unusual for companies to offer compensation for babies born on their products as opposed to mothers. In 2017, a baby born on Spirit received a free flight for him and a companion every year on his birthday.
