REPORTAGE – Every day, the thirty-year-old’s journeys turn into an obstacle course. Trains that are elevated in relation to the platforms, poor organisation between staff and a lack of lifts punctuate Sofiane’s outings, even though he is very active.
“The trouble begins”sighs Sofiane. Barely out of his house, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, the 38-year-old man in a wheelchair has to face his first obstacle: a raised manhole cover on the sidewalk, which forces him to maneuver to pass with millimeter precision. On the occasion of the Paralympic Games, and while the subject of accessibility of transport in the Paris region was put back on the table by Valérie Pécresse, this social worker agreed to take The Figaro alongside him, in order to highlight the difficulties encountered by disabled people in getting around the capital.
This Tuesday, September 3, we head to the Arena Bercy, where the wheelchair basketball events are being held during the Paralympic Games. To reach line 14, the only metro line accessible to wheelchair users, Sofiane first takes bus 62. The other metro lines are inaccessible because of their stairs. But getting on the buses can sometimes be complicated: “I have to let one or two pass before I can get on, because of the crowds or a broken access ramp.”says Sofiane.
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