As 'Fake' Taxis Plague Paris, Legit Taxis Consider Leaving the City
With the Paris Olympic Games just two months away, the City of Lights has a big taxi problem on its hands.
Daouda, a taxi driver in Paris for over a decade, is dreading the Olympic Games. Even though he recognizes the promise of more business, he plans on leaving the city for its entirety. “In Paris, there is already too much traffic,” he said. “Have you seen the roads? They’re not ready.”
As the French capital hustles to complete preparations for the Olympics, which will take place from July 26 to August 11 in some of the most heavily trafficked parts of the city, many taxi drivers—like Parisian residents, in general—are making plans to leave, imperiling an already fragile transportation system that will see an estimated influx of 15 million visitors. Beyond infrastructural chaos, Daouda is concerned about security. “There are a lot of crazy people in the world,” he said. “I’m scared of terrorists.”
When I asked a licensed driver near Gare de Lyon, in the east of Paris if he was excited for the Games, he responded flatly, “No.“ He gestured to the bumper-to-bumper traffic on Rue de Bercy. “I will go on holiday.”
As licensed taxi drivers in Paris determine whether or not to stay in the city for the games, the spread of unlicensed drivers continues to plague city officials and tourists. These “fake” taxis often charge passengers exorbitant and illegal fares, as opposed to the fixed rates that licensed taxis are bound to.
The Paris police are already ramping up their crackdown on the unlicensed taxis in advance of the Olympics. The special unit, called “Les Boers,” told the AFP they plan on expanding their presence during the Olympics, namely at event venues. (In December, Minister of Transport Clément Beaune promised a crackdown on licensed taxis that refuse to accept credit card payment, which he called “illegal” and “unacceptable.”)
It’s not just taxi drivers who want out of the Olympic chaos: Many Parisians feel they’ll have no choice but to flee. The government published a website called “Anticipating the Games” about impending public transport overflow, advising locals to purchase their metro passes early because prices will be raised for the event. “We're essentially being advised to leave the city,” says Gabrielle Pedriani, a 33-year-old publicist who lives in the 5th arrondissement. The website’s interactive map shows metro stations that will be closed, incredibly crowded, or simply “to be avoided.” (The metro has already been called an “obstacle course” for disabled Parisians, though the transport ministry pledged a 1.5 billion euro budget to improve accessibility for the Games.)
As of early May, many Parisian roads still appear to be under construction. Pedriani is trying to remain optimistic that the current street chaos is “reflective of them not wanting to destroy the lives of locals for more time than is absolutely necessary.” But she knows that the next two months and the Games themselves will be a transportation nightmare for full-time residents, and the taxi situation will be just as messy.
“As for road traffic, Paris is already abysmally constructed for the flow of traffic and Ubers take a long time to arrive,” she said, adding that she doesn’t understand why so many city roads appear to be dug up as part of the preparations. “Even though the road construction will ideally be finished pre-Olympics, I doubt traffic will ever run ‘smoothly’ here.”
For a moment, there was hope that the sky could relieve some of the congestion on roads and underground. In 2023, the German company Volocopter made global headlines when it announced plans for a small fleet of electric, flying “air taxis” to fly routes during the Olympics, with planned routes landing on a floating platform on the Seine. But the company is still waiting on regulatory approvals from the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and a person involved with the process recently told Politico that “it is highly unlikely this will be ready at the EU level, with a minimum expected delay to 2025.” (The person suspects there will be demo flights with non-paying VIP passengers, like athletes and journalists.)
The aircrafts could have come in handy. Daouda said that the normal taxi drive of 40 minutes from Charles de Gaulle Airport to the city center could take three hours during the Olympics. He added, “But I’ll be on holiday.”