The Navigo pass (French: Passe Navigo) is a family of contactless smart cards that can be used for payment in public transportation in Paris and the Île-de-Franceregion. It was first introduced on 1 October 2001. The cards are implemented as contactless smart cards using the Calypso standard, initially with Radio-frequency identification (RFID), then Near-field communication (NFC) since 9 December 2013, and enables authenticated access at turnstiles by scanning the card at an electronic reader. Cards can be loaded with tickets and passes at staffed counters and at ticket vending machines. Since July 2018, they can also be recharged directly using a smartphone. Certain Android smartphones can be used in place of Navigo passes using the Île-de-France Mobilités app, allowing validation at Navigo card readers using NFC functionality.
System
Three versions of the Navigo card are available.
Navigo
Navigo card (front)
The Navigo pass is available to those who live or work in the Île-de-France region. The name and a photograph of the holder are printed on the card. It is available for free. The card can be loaded with daily, weekly, monthly, and annual passes.
The cards can also be used for identification on the Vélib' bicycle rental system.[1]
Navigo Liberté+
The Navigo card can also be connected to the Navigo Liberté+ service, which allows users to flexibly take single trips, which will be billed and debited from the user's bank account at the end of each month. Trips are charged at a discounted rate of €1.73 (equivalent to a tenth of the cost of a carnet when loaded onto Navigo Easy), and capped at a maximum payment of €8.65 per day (the cost of a day ticket). Unlike a ticket t+, users can transfer from the métro/RER to the bus/tram network (or vice versa) within 90 minutes without paying a second fare.[2] The service does not allow the use of the train network beyond the city limits of Paris (zone 1).
Navigo Découverte
Navigo Découverte card and cardboard wrapper
The Navigo Découverte pass is available to everyone, and is not limited to residents of Île-de-France. The card is purchased (with no travel enabled) for a one-time fee of €5 at staffed ticket counters, and is sold together with a cardboard wrapper and a plastic holder. The user needs to write their name on the cardboard wrapper and attach a passport photo. Navigo Découverte has the same features as the Navigo pass, except that it cannot hold annual passes and is not eligible for Navigo Liberté+. Travel may be added to the pass for one week (Navigo Semaine, €30.75) or monthly (Navigo Mois €86.40).
Navigo Easy
Navigo Easy card
The Navigo Easy pass is available to everyone at a cost of €2 at staffed ticket counters and select ticket vending machines. It does not need to be personalized with name or photo. It can hold the ticket t+ for single trips, daily tickets, and tickets for the Roissybus and Orlybus airport shuttle buses. Longer-term passes, single tickets for rail trips outside Paris city limits (billet origine-destination) and the Paris Visite tourist tickets cannot be loaded onto Navigo Easy.
History
When the system was introduced in 2001, it was only available to subscribers of the Carte Intégrale annual pass. In 2003, it was increased to users of the Carte Imagine'R student pass. From end 2004, the Navigo card was available for travel within zones one and two of the Paris transportation region for Carte orange weekly and monthly passes, then in all bus and tramways from January 2005 to January 2006. Since 20 May 2006, it has been possible to use the card in all means of transport and in the entirety of the Île-de-France region in place of the magnetic paper tickets of the conventional Carte orange, which was completely discontinued in February 2009.
In July 2007, the Navigo card became compatible with Vélib', the bicycle-sharing system of the City of Paris. From 2011, the card could also be used with the Autolib electric car-sharing service, until they ceased operations in 2018 and were replaced by Mobilib'.
On 1 September 2007, the Carte Navigo Découverte replaced the former equivalent version of the Carte Orange issued on the spot to anyone at a station without registration and in particular to the tourists not residing in the Île-de-France region.
On 9 December 2013, the Navigo card was redesigned by Philippe Starck and used NFC technology instead of RFID.[3][4]
Since 1 January 2018, it is possible to load daily tickets (which in paper form were called Mobilis) onto Navigo cards.[citation needed]
Navigo Easy was introduced on 12 June 2019, and the Navigo Liberté+ subscription service was introduced on 13 November 2019.
Based on tests starting in July 2018 (then restricted to 8,000 users with Samsung Galaxy phones operated by Orange), from 25 September 2019, it became possible to pay for and load tickets on Navigo cards using the NFC functionality on smartphones.[5]
Alternatively, Android smartphones can since then be directly used to validate a ticket at turnstiles.[6][7]
Prototype of the Navigo card before it was introduced to users
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