Say ‘Au Revoir’ to Tourist Buses in Paris City Center
Time to familiarize yourself with Parisian public transportation, because Paris will ban all tourist buses from the city center, Emmanuel Gregoire, the city's deputy mayor, told Le Parisien newspaper.
"Buses are no longer welcome in the very heart of the city," Gregoire said.
This ban will most likely affect hop-on, hop-off busses, international tourist buses and buses belonging to major major travel companies and tour operators. Gregoire noted that, while Paris is not necessarily facing severe overtourism like Venice and Barcelona, the surge of tourist buses has become a nuisance to locals. Large tourist buses are also not as environmentally-conscious as other forms of transportation.
The city hopes that tour companies will learn to adapt by offering different kinds of eco-friendly tours instead (think: walking or cycling tours of the City of Light). Tourists are largely being encouraged to walk, bike or use public transportation. Gregoire said they are waiting for legislation to limit bus traffic and to open more parking spaces for tourist buses outside the city center.
In addition to tourist buses, Paris officials have been cracking down on electric scooters, too (around 40,000 are expected to be in Paris by the end of the year, according to Reuters). A new law will also allow authorities to regulate local traffic and new transportation options like electric scooters and rented bicycles. While there may be more regulations to come, both remain viable transportation options at this time.
And the Paris Metro just got a bit more tourist-friendly with the arrival of plastic top-up cards that launched in June, replacing the notorious little slips of paper previously required for every ride.
