From 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021, the underlying theme of Expo 2020 Dubai (UAE) will be “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, expressed via three subthemes: Mobility, Sustainability and Opportunity. During this truly global event, the France Pavilion will seek to promote French heritage and its wealth of values – human, philosophical, artistic, cultural, entrepreneurial, and also technological and scientific.
To support France at this event, the RATP group, one of the world leaders in sustainable, multimodal mobility, has signed a partnership agreement with the Compagnie Française des Expositions (COFREX – French Exhibitions Company). It will thus help promote French excellence for smart and sustainable cities.
In the words of Catherine Guillouard, Chief Executive Officer of RATP Group: “In this time of profound change in which territories are increasingly dense and connected, cities require integrated solutions. RATP group has the expertise needed to address these challenges and to build cities that are more intelligent, more human and more sustainable. We are proud to be part of the France Pavilion and to fly the flag of French industry overseas, especially in the Middle East, where the Group has become a leading player in urban transport.”
The smart city and sustainable mobility to the fore
RATP group offers environmentally-friendly mobility solutions in the 14 countries in which it is based. Through its many technological innovations, it helps make cities more sustainable and more intelligent:
- The “Bus 2025” plan: RATP carries 1 billion passengers a year via its 350 bus lines in the Île-de-France region, and aims to convert its entire base of 25 bus depots to electric and biogas power by 2025, with the support of Île-de-France Mobilités, the organising authority for public transport in the Paris-Île-de-France region.
- Unique certifications: representing the 1st multimodal operator in the world to be ISO 50001 certified, RATP group has taken ambitious commitments to reduce its energy consumption by 20% over 10 years (2015-2025). It is exploring new ways to save energy and resources, such as recovering the heat generated by the Paris metro to heat buildings in the heart of Paris.
Furthermore, RATP in Île-de-France is the first multimodal transport operator in the world to be awarded AFNOR Certification’s Committed to CSR label with the ‘Confirmed’ status, in recognition of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices.
- A multimodal player focused on new forms of mobility: while the Group already enjoys a strong presence in mass transit, notably through the development of automated metro lines worldwide, it also invests in start-ups engaged in new forms of mobility such as car sharing with Communauto, home-to-work carpooling with Klaxit, or self-service electric scooter rental with Cityscoot.
The autonomous vehicle is another priority area in terms of innovation for RATP group. Since 2016, the company has been conducting a number of trials in France and internationally with some 80,000 passengers who have had a chance to try autonomous shuttles in circulation.
For Erik Linquier, Chairman of the Compagnie Française des Expositions (COFREX) and Commissioner-General of the France Pavilion: “France offers a singular panel of urban operators focused on building the cities of tomorrow. Through their innovative offers, French businesses carry the global vision of cities that are attractive not only for the technologies they deploy, but also for the new services which they offer, in a viable, sustainable manner. The RATP group exemplifies this vision. To illustrate the challenges of mobility, we are particularly proud to welcome this major group among our partners within the France Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.”
About RATP group
With sixteen million journeys every day across the planet, RATP Group is one of the leading urban transport operators in the world. The Group operates in fourteen countries on four continents through its RATP Dev subsidiary and each day runs eight modes of transport : metros, urban and inter-city bus services, tramways, rail, sightseeing, cable cars, maritime shuttle services and transport on demand.
The Group is also present across the entire spectrum of new mobility services in partnership with four other modes (electric scooters, car-sharing, car-pooling and driverless shuttle services).
As a widely-hailed expert in infrastructure management and engineering, the Group also fields a broad range of urban services through its subsidiaries in real estate management and engineering, operating retail facilities, fibre-optic technologies, customized passenger information and innovative ticketing solutions.
RATP has been running one of the densest multimodal networks in the world for over seventy years in Paris and around the French capital.
Thanks to its 61,000 staff members RATP Group designs, implements and runs mobility solutions and innovative services each day for sustainable and more human towns and cities.
About COFREX
Founded by a State decree on January 17th 2018, COFREX (Compagnie Française des Expositions) is a SAS whose sole shareholder is the State.
Its purpose is to prepare, organize and implement France’s participation in international and universal exhibitions organized by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).
COFREX is part of a sustainable project to build on the experience of previous exhibitions in order to optimally organize, for the general public and partners, France’s future participation in universal and international exhibitions.
For more information, visit www.cofrex.fr