Ile-de-France president Valérie Pécresse reiterated on Tuesday her threat to stop paying SNCF and RATP on July 8 if the state did not compensate for the losses suffered by public transport in region because of the coronavirus crisis. "We have unanimously decided by the board of directors of Ile de France mobilités that on July 8, the date on which we will no longer have any cash, we will stop paying RATP and SNCF," said Valérie Pécresse on LCI, while the funding of public transport in Ile-de-France is at the heart of a standoff between the region and the State.
"Either the state refuses to pay, or it is put before its responsibilities," added Valérie Pécresse, also president of Ile-de-France mobilités, the transport management company which is "in a catastrophic situation, almost bankrupt ". Indeed the some 425 million promised by the State represent "15% of the 2.6 billion losses (...) that the Covid has generated for Ile-de-France mobilities", she explained.
"I refuse to introduce a Covid tax"
"What the government wants is that I increase the Navigo Pass to reimburse Covid losses," she added, referring to "an increase of 20 euros". But "I refuse to introduce a Covid tax on Ile-de-France residents," she said. "It is incomprehensible, except to imagine political ulterior motives," added the president (Libres !, ex-LR) of the region. For her "we cannot keep double talk: having a citizens' conference and showing concern for the fight against global warming, and letting public transport in Ile-de-France go bankrupt".