Progressive development of intermodal tickets

With the exception of certain RATP and SNCF tickets that could be used indifferently on the metro or RER in Paris on the networks of one or the other of these operators, the tickets were specific to a given network. They could not be used on another operator's network. There was no general harmonisation of fares by mode: the fares for private buses differed from those for buses operated by the RATP.

Development of zonal intermodal subscriptions

Fare integration and harmonization have gradually developed, with the creation of new tickets, allowing passengers:

to use different modes in connection with a single ticket,
to use the same ticket on several routes, regardless of the operator operating the ticket.

First intermodal ticket: the monthly Orange card

Created in 1975, the monthly Orange Card (now the Navigo pass) allows its holder to travel unlimited on all transport networks within the subscribed validity zone.

It quickly met with great success, so much so that the annual (originally called "Carte Intégrale") and weekly versions of this subscription were created in 1976 and 1982.

The Mobilis tickets and their version for young people (the Ticket Jeunes week-end), which are similar to day Orange Cards, were created in 1985 and 1995 respectively.

Creation of Imagine R subscriptions in 1998

For pupils and students, Imagine R subscriptions are sold at half the price of the "Integral cards" (annual version of the Orange card). They allow unlimited mobility in the subscribed areas and benefit, from the outset, from "dezoning" (the possibility of travelling throughout the region) during weekends and public holidays. The dezoning was extended to the short school holidays from autumn 2001 and to the months of July and August from the summer of 2004.

From the 2015-2016 school year, the Imagine R School and Student packages will become "all zones" (access to the entire Île-de-France region for the price of an old two-zone package). Thus, in terms of the service offered, Imagine R clearly goes beyond the pre-existing bus and rail school subscriptions (which only allow one round trip per day of schooling on the home-school journey) and is positioned as an encouragement to the mobility of young people.

Creation of the Solidarité Transport packages in 2004 and the Gratuity package in 2007

The Solidarité Transport packages (known since September 2015 as Navigo Solidarity packages) are reserved for beneficiaries of certain minimum social benefits. They are similar to Orange cards (now Navigo passes) but sold with a 50% discount. In 2006, the reduction rate rose to 75%.

A further step has been taken with the creation of the Gratuité pass (now called the Navigo Gratuité pass). Issued free of charge to people with the most limited resources, it allows unlimited travel in all areas.

Creation of Amethyst packages in 2013

The latest addition to the range of zonal subscriptions, the Amethyst passes replace the old Emeraude, Améthyste gratuité and Rubis subscriptions, which only gave access to the services of certain operators (RATP and SNCF networks in Paris for Emeraude, RATP and SNCF networks throughout the Île-de-France region for Améthyste gratuité, lines operated by private operators for the Rubis card).

Development of the intermodality of single tickets

In addition to subscriptions, single tickets are also moving towards more integration.

Creation of the connection between the train and the metro since 1995

Train-RER tickets Origin-Destination (O-D) including Paris now systematically include an urban supplement. This allows the passenger to access the metro at a lower fare than the sum of the old O-D ticket and the metro ticket that he or she previously had to pay to make a rail-metro transfer.

Creation of t and t+ tickets in 2003 and 2007

The gradual harmonization of fares between RATP bus lines and private bus lines led to the creation of the t ticket in 2003. It now allows all regular bus lines to be used indiscriminately, at the rate of one T ticket for every 5 sections travelled (i.e. about 12.5 km).

The last significant change to date, the t ticket became the t+ ticket in 2007. A single t+ ticket now allows you to make an entire bus journey with no distance limit (no need for sectioning), and to make connections with other buses and urban trams for 1 hour and 30 minutes after the first validation.

Calls for more intermodality on single tickets are regularly expressed, with passengers in particular questioning the lack of fare integration between bus and rail (metro / train-RER).

When the rail-metro connections and the t+ ticket were created, the question arose of extending the possibility of connection to buses. However, this option was not chosen because it would have entailed a very significant additional financial cost for Île-de-France Mobilités (formerly STIF) and its local authorities, or would have meant setting the price of these intermodal tickets at a higher level. This high price would then have penalised passengers who did not have the use of bus-rail connections.
The Transport Units project on which Île-de-France Mobilités is working could, however, in the medium term provide a response to the demands for increased intermodality.

Towards "All teleticketing"

The migration of transport tickets to electronic ticketing represents an undeniable step forward in terms of user comfort and offers significant advantages for after-sales service. Since the early 2000s, it has won all packages of one week or more:

Migration of the Intégrale card in 2001
Migration of Imagine R Student in 2002 and Imagine R School in 2003
Gradual migration of Orange cards from 2004 to 2009
Migration of the Solidarity Transport and Free Transport packages in 2008
Replacement of historical Amethyst tickets by Amethyst passes on Navigo card in 2013/2014.

But beyond the contributions on ease of use, the migration to electronic ticketing is the key to a new step in terms of intermodality.

The creation of the journey supplement on 1 January 2013 is a first sign of this, since it is now possible to load a pass and a ticket valid for a specific rail journey onto the same contactless card, whereas previously it was necessary to accumulate the media and alternate between electronic ticketing cards, for travel within the areas of validity of one's pass, and magnetic coupon, for trips outside the areas of validity of his pass.

Much more broadly, Île-de-France Mobilités is currently studying a project to modernise ticketing that augurs a new freedom for occasional travellers. The ambition is to replace tickets with an electronic wallet dedicated to contactless card transport: the balance loaded on the card will be debited as and when the journeys are made, with validations making it possible to identify the stages of the route and the modes used. Users of single tickets will thus be able to have, like those of packages, a fully intermodal ticket.