Carte orange

The carte orange (Orange Card) was a pass for the public transportation system in Paris and the surrounding Île-de-France region. A holder of the pass was entitled to unlimited use of the public transit system within a given period of time, with Cartes oranges being available for durations of one week or one month. The carte orange was discontinued in February 2009, and replaced by Navigo semaine (one-week pass) and Navigo mois (one-month pass) on a Navigo pass.

The Île-de-France region, with regards to public transportation, is divided in six concentric zones, the first one being the city of Paris. The most basic pass for Paris and its close banlieue covers zones 1–2, costing €17.20 for a one-week pass and €56.60 for a one-month pass.

Description and use

The Carte Orange itself is composed of a subway pass and an identity card, both of which are stored in a small, transparent, flexible plastic folder.

The subway pass — a small, rectangular ticket composed mainly of stiff paper — lists the period of time and the zones for which it is valid, as well as its price. At the top of the front side of the ticket, there is a thin, holographic strip, to prevent counterfeiting. On the reverse side, there is a brown, magnetic strip on which the card's data (zones and dates) are stored. The user feeds the Carte orange ticket into a turnstile upon entering a metro station, and the machine, after reading the ticket, returns it to the user. A weekly Carte Orange is valid only for one seven-day period, always starting on Monday and ending on Sunday.