Commuting in Paris: The Navigo Pass and Your Employer’s Share

This guide is for internationals who have just moved to the Paris region and want to understand how public transport is paid for and what their employer must contribute. By the end, you will know how the Navigo pass and the Liberté+ service work, and how the employer’s compulsory share of a season ticket is calculated and paid.

• Getting around: the Navigo pass
• Liberté+: paying only for the trips you make
• Smartphones and the end of cardboard tickets
• The employer’s share: who is covered and how much
• Part-time work and absences
• How the share is paid and taxed
• FAQ

Getting around: the Navigo pass

Public transport across the Paris region, known in French as Île-de-France, runs as one network of metro, RER, trains, buses and trams. The passe Navigo (Navigo pass, a contactless travel card) is the main way to carry tickets and passes on it. According to Service Public’s news item on Liberté+, the regional transport authority, Île-de-France Mobilités, runs the platform where you sign up for its services.

A Navigo pass can carry different products. These include weekly, monthly or annual forfaits (flat-rate passes), day passes, single tickets or carnets (books of tickets), and the Liberté+ service described below. This guide does not give the price of each pass because the source pages do not state it. Île-de-France Mobilités publishes current fares.

Liberté+: paying only for the trips you make

Liberté+ is aimed at occasional travellers. It lets you use a single ticketing product across the whole regional network and pay only for the journeys you actually make. Service Public describes it as follows:

• it is not a forfait: you pay per trip, not a flat monthly amount;
• it never needs topping up and is always valid;
• it gives a 20% reduction on ticket prices: 1.99 euros per metro, train or RER trip instead of 2.50 euros, and 1.60 euros per bus or tram trip instead of 2 euros;
• connections between bus or tram and metro, train or RER are free;
• the trips made during a month are taken by direct debit on the 15th of the following month.

Because you are billed after travelling, you sign up in advance with Île-de-France Mobilities and give bank details for the monthly debit.

Smartphones and the end of cardboard tickets

Liberté+ can now be loaded onto an iOS or Android smartphone through the Île-de-France Mobilités app or Apple Maps (Apple Cartes). You then validate your journeys with your phone. Service Public states that the digital version works the same way as the physical card.

When the article was published in June 2025, some other products could already go on a phone: day passes, single tickets, carnets and RoissyBus tickets. Weekly, monthly and annual Navigo passes and the Imagine R pass were not yet available on phones, and the article said the full offer was still being rolled out. Check with Île-de-France Mobilités for the current situation.

Cardboard metro tickets have not been sold in stations since 1 January 2025. The article said leftover tickets could be used on buses and trams until 1 November 2025, and on the metro, trains and RER until summer 2026.

The employer’s share: who is covered and how much

If you work in the private sector, French law requires your employer to pay part of your public-transport season ticket. The rules are set out on Service Public’s page on reimbursement of commuting costs for private-sector employees.

Who is covered. All private-sector employees who use public transport to get to work, including part-time staff and stagiaires (interns). This partial reimbursement is compulsory.

Which services. Public transport such as the metro, bus, tram and train, as well as public bike hire.

Which tickets. Only subscription cards count, whether annual, monthly or weekly. Single tickets are not reimbursable. The page does not mention Liberté+ specifically. Your employer or HR department can tell you how they treat it.

How much. The employer pays 50% of the second-class fare for the shortest route between home and work.

Part-time work and absences

Part-time employees who work at least half the usual hours receive the same 50% share. Those working less than half-time receive a share in proportion to their hours compared with a half-time schedule.

Service Public gives this example: in a company with a 35-hour working week, an employee working 15 hours a week with a 73-euro subscription receives (73 x 50%) x 15/17.5 = 31.29 euros. Half of 35 hours is 17.5 hours, which is why that figure appears in the calculation.

During an absence, the employer normally still pays 50% for days not worked, as long as the pass was used at least once in the month. If it was not used at all in the month, there is no reimbursement.

How the share is paid and taxed

The employer pays the share every month, including for annual subscriptions. Payment must arrive no later than the end of the month after you bought the pass. You must provide proof, either by handing over or showing the pass. An attestation sur l’honneur (signed sworn statement) is enough if a public bike-hire subscription does not show your name, or if you are an intérimaire (temporary agency worker). An accord collectif (collective agreement within the company) may set different proof or payment arrangements. If the employer changes the terms, such as the deadline or the proof required, they must tell employees at least one month in advance.

The amount must appear on your fiche de paie (payslip). It is exempt from income tax. For 2026, if an employer pays more than 50%, the tax exemption applies up to a maximum of 75% of the subscription cost.

The same page explains that an employer may also cover the cost of travelling by personal means, but this is optional. This includes the forfait mobilités durables (sustainable mobility allowance) for cycling, car-sharing and similar modes, capped at 600 euros a year for 2026.

For general questions, Service Public refers people to Allô Service Public, which cannot see personal files. This guide does not cover residence status. Questions about a titre de séjour (residence permit) go to the prefecture or a migration advice service.

FAQ

Does my employer have to pay for my Navigo pass if I am an intern?

Service Public states that the compulsory partial reimbursement applies to all private-sector employees who use public transport to get to work, and it names interns (stagiaires) and part-time staff as included. The share is 50% of the second-class fare for the shortest route, paid on subscription cards only.

Are single tickets or Liberté+ trips reimbursed by the employer?

Single tickets are not reimbursable. Only annual, monthly or weekly subscription cards are covered. The page does not address Liberté+ directly, and Service Public describes Liberté+ as a pay-per-trip service rather than a forfait. Employers set out how they handle it.

When does the Liberté+ payment leave my bank account?

The trips made during a month are taken by direct debit on the 15th of the following month. The service needs no topping up and stays valid, and connections between bus or tram and metro, train or RER are free.

What happens to the employer’s share if I am off sick for part of the month?

According to Service Public, the employer normally still pays 50% for the days not worked, provided the pass was used at least once that month. If it was not used at all during the month, there is no reimbursement for that month.

Sources: service-public.fr · service-public.fr

Last verified: 20 October 2026 against the pages linked above. Rules and fees change; the responsible authority always has the final word.

This is general information, not legal or immigration advice. For your own situation, ask the prefecture of your département, a recognised migration advice service or a lawyer (avocat).