"I must admit that I'm really apprehensive of May 11," says Aurélie, her face hidden behind a large surgical mask. This Wednesday, mid-morning, the platform of line 13 at Mairie de Clichy station in Hauts-de-Seine is almost deserted, but what will happen when the containment ends? The young woman, who works at the nursery of the Saint-Louis hospital in Paris, claims to have noted an increase in frequentation on this line - the most used in Europe - for ten days. "At the start of confinement, there were really few people on the oars, but since the date of May 11 was announced, there are more people every day. So that she plans to stop using the metro if the situation gets worse. "I would go back to the Vélib, I'm used to the strike. "
Tuesday afternoon, during his address to the National Assembly, the Prime Minister confessed that the question of the organization of public transport was - just like school - one of the most thorny points of the deconfinement plan. How to respect social distancing in confined and cramped places? Edouard Philippe plans to "go up the urban transport offer as much as possible" to avoid users crowding into crowded trains. Currently, on the RATP network, only 30% of the trains are in service, they should drop to 70% on May 11 to quickly reach 100%. The government wants to couple this increase in supply with a decrease in demand. "It will be necessary to condemn one seat out of two, to favor by markings on the ground the good social distancing and to prepare to limit the flows", he specified. Since the start of confinement, 500,000 people have used Ile-de-France transport every day, compared to five million in normal times. "On May 11, there must be one to two million maximum travelers," insists 20 Minutes Ile-de-France Mobilités.
"I move away from everyone, I don't touch anyone"
This Wednesday morning, the platforms of the Parisian station of the place of Clichy - which usually never empty, are sparse. About fifteen people on average wait for their metro, but depending on connections, sometimes 30 or 40 arrive suddenly. In the background, prevention messages loop, recalling the essential prevention rules. On the trains, there are about twenty users per wagon, that is to say one in two, but the rush hour has passed for some time. "I am on a staggered schedule, I often start at 6:30 am, so there are not many people but at peak times, we are sometimes a little tight, not as much as before, but we are less than a meter away," says Prince, 25. Every day, this resident of Saint-Ouen, in Seine-Saint-Denis, crosses half of Paris to reach his place of work, in the 12th arrondissement.
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Dosso, 49, does almost the opposite route - Nation-Saint-Denis - twice a week. If she appreciates this relative calm in public transport at the moment, she remains skeptical about the measures put forward by the government. "There may be fewer people in it, but where will the others be?" Does that mean we will wait a long time on the platform before we can get on? Asks the mother. To limit the use of transport, all stakeholders insist on the need to continue teleworking as much as possible or to spread out the hours in businesses to avoid peak hours. "These people never took line 13! Even August 15 at 6 a.m. is crowded! "Glody smiles. The 30-year-old does not feel stressed by the deconfinement but remains skeptical about the possibility of maintaining social distancing in transport. "We can't all telecommute, I'm on construction sites, I can't do it on my computer!" "
Mask for all
If from May 11, the wearing of the mask will be mandatory in all public transport, a large part of the users has already anticipated the request. This Tuesday, they are, at first sight, a little more than a third to hide it precisely. "It reassures me, I tell myself that it's better than nothing, even if frankly, it's super unpleasant. It falls, it fogs my glasses and as soon as I move my head I can't see anything, ”says Juliette, in her twenties. "It's because your mask is badly put on," said Akli, who was patient on the platform.
In this area, the man knows about it: he works for a company specializing in home health services. "We sell masks too!" However, he does not wear them even though every day he walks up and down the capital. "I am very attentive, I move away from everyone, I do not touch anyone," he explains. If he assures that people have been rather respectful on public transport since the start of confinement, he is worried about an increase in aggression after May 11. "I think people will get out of their bubble, be overwhelmed as soon as they are jostled. And then fear can derail. "
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