A bus ignores him, he catches him in a wheelchair

On Monday afternoon, Soumaïla Traoré waits for the bus at a stop in Saint-Ouen, in Seine-Saint-Denis. A first bus arrives, "the driver told me that he could not get me up because his vehicle was badly positioned, that the stop was congested but that a second bus was just behind. ", testifies Soumaïla Traoré in the columns of Parisien .

Magnanimous, the man who lost his four limbs as a result of a train accident waits for the second bus. "The second driver did not open the doors, just looked at me with a sorry look and left," says Soumaïla Traoré

This one then has an unusual reaction: he takes the bus hunting. "I felt a sense of helplessness, I thought for five seconds, the time to see the second bus leave, leaving me there, and I told myself that I was going to try to catch up with him because I could not find not that acceptable, "he says.

Two bus stops further Soumaïla Traoré caught up with the Paris bus. He then stands in front of the public transport and prevents the vehicle to resume his journey. "I asked the driver to call his superiors and I said that I will not move from his vehicle for the next thirty minutes."

His maneuver eventually paid off. Soumaïla Traoré was able to get on the bus thanks to the ramp with which it is equipped. He is now hoping that the message is gone: "I too have activities, hours to meet, why could they live normally and not me?" Why were they all indifferent to the fact that I can not get on the bus? "

70% of the suburban bus lines accessible according to the RATP

According to the RATP, the entire Paris bus network (63 lines) and more than 70% of the network of suburbs (more than 200 lines) are accessible to people who move in wheelchairs, reports Le Parisien .

The Ile-de-France public transport operator states that "100% of the bus lines will be accessible by 2021."

But, she admits, the bus line 173 does not not yet among the accessible bus lines. This should be the case by the end of 2018. Although the vehicles may be equipped with ramps, sidewalks are not yet equipped to accommodate people in wheelchairs.