The Tram Service: a Victim of Its Own Success 
Nearly 162 million passengers have taken the tram in Casablanca—a figure that reflects the success of the service, five years after it was launched. Casablanca’s residents have become so used to it that many have stopped paying attention, resulting in more frequent accidents. The situation is unacceptable in the eyes of RATP Dev Casablanca and Casa Transports, for whom the safety of passengers and road users is an absolute priority. 

First, there was the EFQM diploma of excellence awarded in September 2017. Then, the latest certification confirmed the application of, and continuous improvement in, quality management at OrlyVal. The auditors deemed the service’s organisation clear, original and particularly relevant. 

On 7 December 2017, Qatar Rail, the Qatari national public transport operator, awarded RKH Qitarat — the joint venture based on a consortium between RATP Dev and Keolis (49%) and the Qatari company Hamad Group (51%) — the operations and maintenance contract for the new automated metro of Doha, the capital of Qatar with more than two million residents, and a light rail network in Lusail. Lusail is located 15km from Doha’s city centre and is currently being built and, once completed, is expected to house 240,000 residents. 

Organized for the first time ever in Europe, and hosted by the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona from 12 to 16 November, this year’s edition shed light on the role of transportation in smart cities. It gave RATP Dev the opportunity to showcase its expertise and RATP Group’s energy-saving initiatives in metro systems: installing LED lighting in the Paris network; using trains to help reduce CO2 emissions; and promoting the benefits of innovation in the field of environmental technology.  

In 2014, alongside Ile-de-France Mobilités, RATP committed to a major technological and ecological evolution with the aim of having a 100% ecological bus fleet by 2025: this is the Bus2025 plan. This is in line with the 20% reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions included in the Ile-de-France Urban Travel Plan.

With Bus2025, RATP will profoundly transform its industrial tool (bus centers) and completely renew its fleet. A transition that has already begun with the first acquisitions of electric buses and massive acquisitions of hybrids.

London transport authority, TfL, has awarded £500,000 funding (approx. €565,000) to develop new ideas from transport operators across London in order to reduce the number of people seriously injured or killed on London's bus network.

A burgeoning year 

Seven additional cities joined EXTRAPOLITAN in 2017 after Hong Kong, Nice and Marseilles in 2016. In July, Touristry AB, a major player in the Scandinavian travel industry operating under the brand Red Buses, joined Extrapolitan with the cities of Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga and Tallinn. Last October, Athens became our first partner from southern Europe with Sights of Athens. 

Boosting innovation 

Sizanani means “let’s help each other” in Sotho. For the last ten years the charity has been supporting students from under-privileged backgrounds in the Alexandra township in Johannesburg, close to the Gautrain line, the high-speed regional train service operated by RATP Dev subsidiary BOC.