Transport during a major event: what Paris 2024 taught us for Lyon 2030

There is a before and after Paris 2024 in how French companies think about event transport. For several weeks, the capital operated under an exceptional regime: nested traffic perimeters around each site, a digital pass required to enter the most sensitive zones in a motor vehicle, closed bridges, routes redrawn overnight. Those who had planned ahead worked normally. The others discovered that during the Games, improvising is very expensive.

Lesson 1: traffic rules change — and can be managed

In Paris, motorised access to the areas immediately around the sites required the Games Pass, a personal QR code requested in advance with supporting documents. Passenger transport professionals built it into their routine: early applications, alternative routes prepared, drop-off points adjusted site by site. Passengers had nothing to manage. This is the first lesson: an exceptional arrangement can be navigated without friction when it is someone else's job. In 2030, a similar mechanism can be expected around Halle Tony-Garnier, LDLC Arena and Eurexpo — and we will take care of it, not you.

Lesson 2: capacity is booked months in advance

Summer 2024 was a reminder of an economic truth: when demand soars in a finite area, everything that cannot be stored becomes scarce — hotel rooms, restaurant slots and chauffeur-driven vehicles. Organisations that contracted their transport months in advance had cars, held prices and briefed drivers. Those that waited until July paid top price, if they found a car at all. The window for buying event transport well lies very far upstream — and it is open now for Lyon 2030.

Lesson 3: nominal journey time no longer means anything

During a major event, a consumer GPS algorithm relies on data that no longer exists: streets closed that same morning, massive pedestrian flows, banned drop-offs. In Paris, serious transport operators worked with wider time margins and drivers who checked the routes the day before. This is the third lesson: in exceptional periods, punctuality is no longer a by-product of navigation, it is a local skill. Our drivers work the eastern Lyon area, the three Olympic venues and the Alpine routes all year round; in 2030, they will be playing at home.

Lesson 4: invoicing is the invisible issue that gets out of hand

Two weeks of an event, thirty employees, four hotels, guests, daily airport transfers: without a framework, this ends in scattered expense claims, missing receipts and impossible client rebilling. Finance departments that lived through Paris 2024 came back with a simple rule: a single provider, contractually fixed prices, one consolidated monthly invoice broken down by cost centres. This is exactly what our business offeroffers, with a portal where your teams book for themselves within the framework you define.

Preparing for 2030 in four decisions

• List now the foreseeable needs: who will be on site, for how long, with what daily flows.
• Contract early : a framework contract signed years ahead guarantees capacity and locks in terms — with no unnecessary volume commitment.
• Delegate local complexity : perimeters, accreditation, drop-off points — to the transport operator, not your teams.
• Centralise spending : consolidated invoicing, analytical breakdown, zero expense claims.

The calendar is on your side: three and a half years from the Games, everything is still simple. Write to us at contact@onlyvtc.fr or call 06 67 25 84 26 — a thirty-minute conversation is enough to outline an arrangement.

ONLY VTC has been supporting Lyon companies at their events since 2016: chauffeur hire, shuttles, framework contracts and consolidated invoicing. contact@onlyvtc.fr or 06 67 25 84 26.

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