What to expect from this week's French taxi driver strikes
French taxi drivers are beginning a week of action - including demos and rolling roadblocks - in their
long-running dispute
over changes to the fare structure for medical transport.
Monday saw tense scenes in Paris as drivers blocked roads and set fire to wooden pallets and tyres, with police responding with tear gas.
However the action was not only in Paris, with towns including Bordeaux, Pau and Amiens also seeing actions.
Rest of the week
The Federation of taxi unions has called for a week-long action - although in general French strikes tend to have stronger support at the beginning as workers are either unwilling or unable to lose multiple days of earnings.
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Paris
- taxi drivers say they will be mobilising daily on the Boulevard Raspail in the city centre. Monday saw around 1,000 taxis block the road, and organisers hope to have a similar turnout for the rest of this week.
Pau
- the small south-west town of Pau also saw confrontations between police and taxi drivers on Monday. Drivers' unions say they plan to continue on Tuesday with go-slow protests (known as an
opération escargot
) in the town centre. Pau is seeing especially determined protests because its mayor François Bayrou is also the prime minister and is an especial target for the drivers' anger.
Marseille and Toulon
- the southern towns of Marseille and Toulon have go-slow protests on Tuesday with drivers blocking the A50 and the Toulon tunnel. Local organisers say similar actions are planned for the rest of the week.
Bordeaux
- taxi drivers on Monday refused fares for medical transport on Monday, with the exception of dialysis patients. It is not clear whether further protests of this type are planned.
It is likely that other protests will take place later in the week, but at the time of writing no details had been announced - previous protests by taxi drivers about this issue have involved rolling roadblocks on motorways and blockades of airports.
Transport tips for strike week
This protest is mainly affecting travel by road - public transport is unaffected and trains continue to run as normal. In Paris the Metro, trams and RER are running as normal, while other city public transport is running as normal.
If you are driving you may be affected by roadblocks or blockades - check local news before setting off.
The protests affect only official taxis, not VTC services like Uber - in fact taxi drivers are also protesting against what they see as laxer rules and regulation for VTC services. Uber is present in most French cities, along with Bolt and the French start-up Heetch, offering app-based ride hailing services. Be aware, however, that these operators use dynamic pricing so fares may be more expensive if the local taxi services are disrupted.
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Most French cities also offer bike-hire services (eg Vélib in Paris). It's also worth checking on the map exactly how far your journey is, most French cities are very walkable and even Paris is surprisingly compact, making travel by foot a real option.
Apps such as CityMapper and GoogleMaps can give you routes based on public transport, walking or cycling.
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