Paris to scrap transport zones

PUBLIC transport users will be free to travel anywhere in the Paris region for a flat monthly fee from 2013, regardless of how far from the centre they live.

Ile-de-France transport authority Stif has announced that the five existing zones, from the centre out to the furthest suburbs, will be scrapped and a flat-rate travel pass will allow users to travel the whole region, based on the price of a basic zone 1-2 monthly pass.

The zones will be removed at weekends from mid-2012 and permanently from the following year.

Authorities are also looking at modifying the contactless Navigo travel pass to handle pay-as-you-go journeys from 2014. Similar to the Oyster card used in London, users would be able to top up their card with credit and have their fare automatically deducted at the ticket gates.

The announcements coincided with news of another fare increase in Paris. Ticket prices will rise by 1.5% on January 1. A further increase, in the region of 2.5% is expected in July.

Individual metro tickets will remain at €1.70 in the new year, but a carnet of 10 tickets will go up 20 centimes, to €12.70.