RATP Group innovates every day to :
- improve and facilitate the daily lives of its passengers in France and abroad by offering high-performance, tailor-made mobility solutions;
- develop its industrial excellence using artificial intelligence and robotics;
- invent and build sustainable, smart, inclusive cities of tomorrow that are pleasant to live in through the acceleration of its energy transition and an ambitious urban planning policy.
And for the Group, tomorrow is today!
A historical culture of innovation
From the first rubber-tyred metro in the late 1950s to contactless travel passes, the first wide-gauge automated metro, and the first automation of an incumbent line without an interruption in traffic… over the decades, our Group has developed expertise that has become the world reference in numerous areas.
Today, our innovation strategy is structured around four priorities: technical and project innovation, so that we are always at the forefront of our sector; innovation in transport services, to propose new mobility solutions; digital innovation, on behalf of our passengers and all of the Group’s lines of business; and innovation for a sustainable city, to propose more virtuous urban models.
An open approach to innovation
The digital revolution and the energy transition are having a profound impact on the mobility sector. Our open approach to innovation (“open innovation”) helps us to create new sustainable mobility offerings, as well as original and useful services for our passengers.
We work with dozens of start-ups in the countries where we do business as part of RATP’s veritable innovation eco-system. A “one-stop shop” for start-ups created in 2017 will allow them to make rapid contact with our experts in charge of selecting and making short cycle assessments of solutions proposed by new players.
In early 2017, we created RATP Capital Innovation, a subsidiary dedicated to investments in start-ups that marks a new phase in the implementation of our innovation strategy. The subsidiary will invest in innovative start-ups and take equity stakes in investment funds whose investment themes correspond to our key innovation and development priorities.
As part of its targeted investment policy, RATP Capital Innovation has already invested in several start-ups that epitomise new and shared individual forms of mobility: car-pooling with Communauto, commute car-sharing with Klaxit (previously known as WayzUp), transport services for fragile passengers with Citizen Mobility and a significant equity stake in Cityscoot, the leader in self-service scooters.
Participative innovation
We are also developing a participative innovation strategy to stimulate the creativity of our staff. Numerous challenges, notably in the field of sustainable development, and in-house awards thus facilitate the emergence of concrete initiatives that are shared with as many people as possible.
We have an in-house entrepreneurship system called BOUGE! (MOVE!), which helps employees put forward innovative proposals of interest to our Group. Participants whose projects are selected benefit from start-up mode support to transform their innovative concepts into up-and-running commercial offers.
Over 70 years of innovation at the service of passengers
As the world’s 4th-largest transport operator and a leader in tram and automated metro systems, RATP Group has always known how to innovate in step with technology to provide passengers with new transport modes and services.
1952 : First trial of automated driving systems.
1967 : Commissioning of the first centralised control room on metro line 1.
1973 : Installation of magnetic tickets gates in the metro.
1998 : Opening of metro line 14, the world’s first fully automated large-capacity line.
2002 :
- Creation of the RATP DEV subsidiary
- Start of the current metro system upgrading programme.
2006 : Implementation of RATP’s first climate energy policy
2012 : Automation of metro line 1, the oldest line on the Paris metro, without any major traffic interruption.
2016 : First trial of an autonomous shuttle on the Georges Pompidou pedestrian street.
2017 :
- Conversion to electricity of the 21 buses on route 341.
- Unveiling of the autonomous shuttle trial in Bois de Vincennes between Château de Vincennes station (metro line 1) and the Parc Floral (Paris 12th arrondissement) in partnership with the city of Paris, Île-de-France Mobilités and the city of Vincennes
- Creation of RATP Capital Innovation, the Group’s subsidiary in charge of investment and launching for SMEs, VSEs and start-ups in the field of mobility and smart cities.
2018 : World's first multimodal transport operator to be ISO 50001 (energy management) certified.
2019 : First MaaS (Mobility as a Service) trial in the Île-de-France region in partnership with IDFM.
2020 :
- Unveiling of the extension of metro line 14 to the north.
- Acquisition of Mappy by RATP Smart Systems to improve passenger experience.
- Hydrogen bus trial
2021 :
- Creation of the RATP Solutions Ville and RATP Cap Île-de-France subsidiaries.
- 6-km extension of the autonomous shuttle’s route from Porte Jaune to Mairie de Vincennes, including the crossing of a busy crossroads.
- Launch of Bonjour RATP, the Group’s MaaS app.