Are the Olympic Games already having an impact on traffic jams in Paris?

Now that the Olympic lanes have come into force, are they already having an impact on traffic jams? We tell you everything!

There’s only one week left until the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, and already there’s chaos on the roads.

Olympic Games equal traffic jams?

In fact, the lanes reserved for the Olympic Games are already in place since July 15thon many motorways such as the A1, A12 and A13, as well as on the ring road. That’s not all, because in the very heart of the capital, many streets are now closed to motorists. Which, as you can imagine, creates a huge mess. But to what extent? Well, GPS specialist TomTom has looked into the issue and has just launched a new index to track traffic in Paris and on the ring road in real time, particularly in anticipation of the summer and the Olympic Games. This tracking tool allows you to analyze and compare congestion levels in real time with historical data. And the least we can say is that the events have an impact on road traffic, particularly within Paris itself. Indeed, this Monday, July 15, 2024, the congestion rate remained higher all day than the average observed on the same day of the week in July and August 2023.

Very large traffic jams

Going into a little more detail, we see that at 9am, the congestion rate reached an impressive figure of 72%compared to only 44% at the same time last year. A very high figure, which proves that the roads closed for the Olympics have a real impact, even if TomTom does not say so clearly. In addition, the following days have confirmed this trend. Tuesday at 9amthe congestion rate was 68%Wednesday by 63%, and Thursday, July 18 by 71%, or about 25 points more than last year’s average. A sharp increase, while last year, this rate was actually falling from around July 10, due to the start of the school holidays. But with traffic restrictions, the major departures are unfortunately not felt on the roads. However, it is important to note that this situation is not uniform throughout the Ile-de-France region. While Paris and its ring road are particularly affected, other areas of the region may have different levels of congestion.

Suffice to say that you will have to be patient on the road during the Olympic Games!