One major point of suspense in the lead-up to these Paris Olympics concerned the city's mass transit system. With no dedicated public parking at the venues, organizers were banking on fans from around the world piling into the subway and commuter rail (or RER), just like Parisians. Méétro, judo, dodo.
In my conversations leading up to the Games, it was the trains-not terrorism, heat, rain, traffic, or the durability of French rugby star Antoine Dupont's face-that were perceived as the weakest link of these decentralized Olympics. By sprinkling the sports across the city, Paris had spread the traffic across different metro lines.
So far, the system is largely holding up to the Olympic stress. There are some obvious reasons for that-locals are on vacation, new stations opened on time, many more trains are running than during a typical summer. To direct travelers, the regional transportation network has mobilized 19,000 purple-vested helpers, a ubiquitous presence in the stations and on platforms.
And then there's a reason that's quite unusual. Paris is working with navigation apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps to direct travelers away from the fastest routes. Leaving the men's rugby quarter finals last week at the Stade de France, Google Maps led us on a 20-minute walk to a train station on the D line, rather than the 10-minute walk to the B line from which we'd come.
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