The Paris metro has introduced an instant translation app called Tradivia to aid foreign visitors during the Games. The app supports 16 languages and has been distributed to 6,000 staff members across the metro stations, aiming to assist travelers in navigating the urban transport system.
The app, Tradivia, translates spoken queries in various languages like English, German, Mandarin, Hindi, and Arabic into French for RATP agents. The agents respond in French, and the app translates their responses back into the visitor’s original language. This facilitates communication between visitors and staff at RATP.
Valerie Gaidot, the customer experience head at RATP, highlighted a significant challenge: their agents couldn’t feasibly respond to queries in all languages, prompting the need for a solution to bridge this communication gap.
RATP has customized the app exclusively for the Paris metro, enabling it to understand station names, routes, ticket types, and travel passes. This specialized knowledge gives the app an edge over general translation tools like Google Translate, which might struggle to decipher the unique intricacies of the metro system.
The operator initially tested the service on three urban lines before expanding it across the entire network during the summer. Currently, special platform announcements are available in four languages: English, German, Italian, and Spanish, with plans to add Mandarin and Arabic before the Olympics.
SOURCE: 2024 Olympics: Instant Translation Service Launched for Travelers
