Thanks to the recruitment of hundreds of drivers, bus traffic in Paris and its inner suburbs, which has been very disrupted since last summer, should return to normal within two months, the CEO of the Régie estimated on Friday April 7. Autonomous Transport Parisian (RATP), Jean Castex. “We hope that around June we will already be back to something that Ile-de-France residents experienced before the difficulties encountered since last year,” he said during a visit by Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, at the driver training center in Saint-Denis.

This will not be a return to the theoretical supply, he said, however: “5-6%” of the supply will not be available, “because there is always work, difficulties along the way… what are called external causes”. In September, the RATP provided a bus service “barely at 73%” of forecasts. “We’re almost 89% today,” he remarked.

“We had great difficulties in carrying out the service, in particular due to a lack of staff”, admitted the boss of the RATP, recalling that “a completely significant recruitment plan” has been initiated, aimed at recruit “at least 2,400 handlers-receivers” this year. “It’s off to a good start,” he added: already 800 agents have been recruited, and 5,000 CVs received.

Salary increase

“The RATP must go out and go to the population to make itself better known, to explain what the job consists of, by having bus drivers testify (…) so that they can explain their job (…), in particular on the networks social”, explained the former Prime Minister, who arrived at the end of November at the head of the RATP.

“The company itself must be welcoming, attractive, benevolent, the quality of life at work must improve,” he said, slipping that the RATP has also increased wages. Drivers are trained in two months, including one to pass the D license.

“We expect a lot from you,” Mr. Castex told a dozen future drivers, insisting on “the taste for service” and highlighting the possibilities for professional development in the public group. “We can and must be proud of our public service,” said Clément Beaune. The quality of the Paris metro and bus service “has improved very significantly”, he said.