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109-559: The RATP Group ( French : Groupe RATP ) is a French state-owned enterprise ( EPIC ) that operates public transport system primarily in Paris , France. Headquartered in Paris, it originally operated under the name Régie autonome des transports parisiens (English: Parisian Autonomous Transport Administration ). Its logo represents, in a stylized version, the Seine 's meandering through

218-431: A 25% discount on their December passes. By Friday, replacement workers and other drivers willing to cross the picket lines had restored service to normal levels. FWTA offered a new contract proposal late in the week, which was rejected on Saturday by a vote of 37 to 21. But because less than half of the 155 union members voted, a 2/3 majority of the vote was required to reject the contract. That would have required 39 of

327-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process

436-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,

545-628: A considerable number of international operations. In 2009, RATP entered the United States by purchasing transit contractor McDonald Transit Associates. McDonald operated Fort Worth Transportation Authority (now Trinity Metro ) in Texas, Votran in Florida, and Waco Transit System in Texas, among others. On 1 August 2011, the RATP Group purchased Stagecoach Metrolink's contract to operate

654-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and

763-885: A former Rock Island throughway with five stops in Fort Worth, two stops in Irving , and three stops in Dallas. The line is jointly operated with Dallas Area Rapid Transit ; Trinity Metro manages the stations in Tarrant County (from T&P Station to CentrePort/DFW Airport ). As of September 15, 2024 , Trinity Metro operates twenty-three regular bus routes, five Xpress/Limited routes, and two specialty services. The bus network travels throughout Fort Worth, with its main hub at Fort Worth Central Station . The system has three additional transfer locations and two park-and-rides. Prior to Fort Worth Central's opening in 2001,

872-621: A minority shareholding in that group, with its many worldwide transport operations. However, in 2009, the Caisse des dépôts et consignations , the majority owner of the Transdev, started negotiations with Veolia to merge Transdev with Veolia Transport . As part of the resulting agreement, made in May 2010, it was agreed that RATP would take over ownership of some of Transdev's operations in lieu of cash payment for its holdings in Transdev. This gave RATP

981-467: A new joint venture called RATP Dev Transit London , with RATP Dev holding 87.5% of shares and SeaLink 12.5%. The incorporation of the joint venture was finalised on 11 December 2021. Tower Transit's Lea Interchange garage, located in East London, was not part of the joint venture and remained unaffected until sold off separately to Stagecoach London . Outside of London, RATP Dev manages, since 2011,

1090-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on

1199-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in

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1308-683: A result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,

1417-676: A shuttle route which connected Fort Worth Central station to the Cultural District and Dickies Arena using red-colored electric buses . The route was discontinued due to low ridership and its proximity to an existing local route. Launched in July 2019, On-Demand (formerly ZIPZONE) is a curb-to-curb microtransit service operated in partnership with Via Transportation . The service allows riders to book trips on-demand (using an app or phone number) so long as each trip starts and ends within specially designated zones. Travel between zones

1526-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in

1635-457: A working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As

1744-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French

1853-589: Is a hybrid rail service connecting downtown Fort Worth and DFW Airport . The train travels through northeast Tarrant County with four stops in Fort Worth , two stops in North Richland Hills and three stops (including at the airport) in Grapevine . Trinity Railway Express , opened in 1996, is a commuter rail service connecting downtown Fort Worth and downtown Dallas . The train travels on

1962-468: Is a short-term bike rental service. Users check out electric bikes from docking stations across Fort Worth and ride them for up to two hours. This service is not included with any Trinity Metro tickets, though bike-exclusive memberships, which allow unlimited rides for their duration, are available. VANPOOL is a service which allows groups of five to fifteen people to collectively rent an SUV or van for travel to and from work, with prices varying based on

2071-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English

2180-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given

2289-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in

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2398-563: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English

2507-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from

2616-483: Is not permitted, though some zones overlap. The service costs $ 1-3 per ride and is included with multi-ride passes. Trinity Metro previously offered a separate curb-to-curb service in the Alliance neighborhood, which offered a complimentary Lyft ride through a promotional code . The service was replaced with a standard On-Demand zone on July 15, 2024. Operated in association with BCycle , Fort Worth Bike Sharing

2725-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in

2834-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for

2943-639: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,

3052-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure

3161-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in

3270-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially

3379-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism

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3488-632: Is to close its Quality Line subsidiary and Epsom depot. The closure was effective as of July 2021. On 16 June 2021, the firm announced it had placed an order for 195 electric buses for its London operations to be delivered jointly by Alexander Dennis and BYD Auto , the by then largest ever full battery electric bus order in the UK. On 22 September 2021, RATP Dev and SeaLink Travel Group (now Kelsian Group ) announced that their respective West London bus operations (including London United, London Sovereign and Tower Transit 's Westbourne Park garage) would merge into

3597-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of

3706-609: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of

3815-517: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only a second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and

3924-740: The East Japan Railway Company announce their association to jointly bid for operations and maintenance of the North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR), in the Philippines . (selection / non comprehensive list) French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from

4033-533: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains

4142-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,

4251-588: The French Alps . Ridership of the cable car has increased by 50% since 2013, notably after the introduction of shuttle buses from Annemasse and Saint-Julien-en-Genevois . The contract of the RATP Dev-led consortium has been renewed in 2019 for 12 additional years, until 2031. RATP Dev established in 2018 a "regional office" in Singapore for Asia-Pacific albeit not having any operational activity in

4360-877: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It

4469-790: The Metrolink light rail system in Greater Manchester , England until July 2017. Two years later, in 2013, RATP purchased the nearby long-established coach company, Selwyns Travel , a National Express operator. The current president and CEO of the RATP, Jean Castex , is in office since 28 November 2022. Hiba Farès is the Chairman of the Board of RATP Dev since January 2022. In Paris, RATP operates, under its own name, on behalf of and under contract with Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM),

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4578-522: The Metroplex . ACCESS Paratransit (originally Mobility Impaired Transit Services, or MITS) is an ADA -compliant paratransit service for riders with disabilities that prevent them from using standard Trinity Metro services. The service allows eligible patrons to schedule curb-to-curb transportation to any location in Fort Worth or River Oaks . From November 6, 2006 through November 11, 2006, around 100 of FWTA's union workers went on strike , citing

4687-626: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It

4796-488: The RATP bus network , as well as part of the regional express rail (RER) network. However, since 2002, RATP Group's operations have no longer been geographically restricted; it has competitively pursued contracts to operate transit systems around the world. It also had a partnership with, and a minority shareholding in, Transdev , which has further involved RATP Group in various global transport operations. During 2002, RATP Dev

4905-713: The Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by

5014-775: The World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin

5123-497: The provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco; the Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to

5232-484: The "Régionéo" brand name for regional rail services in France which will gradually opened to competitive tendering. In February 2023, Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners (STCP), one of the two private sector teams executing the project development agreement with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the future Sepulveda Transit Corridor , announced to have selected RATP Dev as its operations and maintenance partner. In October 2024, RATP Dev and

5341-427: The ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in

5450-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;

5559-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed

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5668-433: The ARAF (French rail regulatory body) law came into effect. This law opens public transport operation to competition. The law was part of a broader push by the European Union to open all passenger transport operation to competition. Under this law, the RATP Group lost the exclusive right to operate all new public transport lines immediately. The company's exclusive operation rights for existing lines would expire over time, with

5777-413: The Air Decker, a bus service operated by Bath Bus Company connecting Bristol Airport with Bath . RATP operates various transit systems in the United States under the name RATP Dev USA : RATP Dev operates hop-on hop-off tours using double-decker buses under the Tootbus brand in several cities: Since 2013, RATP Dev, in a consortium with TPG and Pomagalski , manages the Salève cable car , in

5886-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French

5995-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,

6104-424: The City Transit Service (CITRAN) and the Surface Transportation Service (SURTRAN, a service jointly owned between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, shuttling passengers to and from DFW from stops in Dallas (including Dallas Union Station ), Fort Worth and Arlington), with transportation services for the handicapped (MITS) being added in 1979. On November 8, 1983, voters approved formation of The T. To finance

6213-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of

6322-584: The FWTA 2015 master plan, citing "project costs and other considerations", the agency decided to build the 27 mile Minimum Operable Segment (MOS) between downtown Fort Worth and DFW Terminal B. The other considerations likely included stalled negotiations with Fort Worth & Western, Union Pacific, and DART, over securing right of way for TEXRail trains. The MOS included 2 new stations in Fort Worth, one in Grapevine, two at DFW Airport, and 3 potential stations in North Richland Hills and Haltom City . The three potential stations were conditional on either city joining

6431-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained

6540-410: The Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as

6649-478: The North Texas Xpress (Route 64) express bus service in partnership with Denton County Transportation Authority . Through the early 1970s, bus transit services in Fort Worth were provided by City Transit Company, a private enterprise. Starting in 1974, the city's Traffic Engineering Department began coordinating bus operations. In 1978, the city established the Fort Worth Department of Transportation, which took over public transit operations. These operations included

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6758-402: The OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as a second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and

6867-400: The Paris area as the face of a person looking up. The company had described itself as the fourth-largest presence in public transport. RATP Group was established in 1949 with the express purpose of operating Paris' public transport system. During the twentieth century, it focused solely on the provision of the capital's various forms of transit, from the Paris Métro , Île-de-France tram , and

6976-479: The Paris region transit authority . RATP's services constitute, in their own right, a multi-mode public transportation infrastructure, but also contribute to a larger multi-mode system extending out into the surrounding Île-de-France communities. RATP's services in the Greater Paris area include: Paris bus route 341 was RATP's first line equipped with 100% electric full-size buses (starting June 2016). By early 2021, there were over 150 full battery electric buses in

7085-704: The Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Wholly and partly owned operations include the following: In December 2022, RATP Dev launches hydrogen training center in La Roche-sur-Yon . In June 2024, RATP partnered with Wabtec to equip all its RER A trains with a new brake lining that eliminates 70-90% of the health-damaging fine particles found on platforms. Similar tests are being carried out on some metro lines. The same year, RATP and Île-de-France Mobilités signed an accessibility charter to make it easier for blind and partially-sighted people to travel on Île-de-France's transport network. RATP Dev's presence in

7194-504: The Trinity Metro service area, which requires imposing a half-cent sales tax to help fund the agency. North Richland Hills joined Trinity Metro in 2018, while Haltom City never did, as a result, two stations were built in North Richland Hills, and the Haltom City station was not. The MOS was completed, and TEXRail began service between downtown Fort Worth and DFW airport on January 10, 2019, with free rides until January 31, 2019 to " give everyone an opportunity to ride". On January 29, 2018,

7303-419: The United Kingdom is mainly concentrated in London with its portfolio of bus services on behalf of Transport for London . Through its three subsidiaries London United , Quality Line (acquired as Epsom Coaches in April 2012) and London Sovereign (acquired in April 2014), RATP Dev manages 1129 vehicles on 96 routes out of 10 garages, and has 3387 employees, as of 2020. Early 2021, RATP Dev announced that it

7412-432: The agency's policy regarding termination of employees who had used up their short-term disability benefits. This represented about a third of the workers represented by Teamsters Local 997. Service continued with delays the next morning by non-striking drivers, and FWTA began advertising for replacement drivers. During the dispute, bus rides on FWTA were free, and the agency announced that monthly pass holders will receive

7521-467: The agency's services. FWTA's final day of service in Richland Hills was November 23, 2016. In 2001, the FWTA saw its cooperation efforts with DART pay off as the Trinity Railway Express reached downtown Fort Worth. The other end of the line terminates in downtown Dallas. The TRE commuter line has a daily ridership of 9,100 and is the thirteenth most-ridden commuter rail system in the country. On August 24, 2016, Trinity Metro broke ground on TEXRail,

7630-411: The bus network going out to bid 15 years later in 2024, the tram network (Lines T1, T2 & T3) going out to bid 20 years later in 2029, and the Metro and RER lines out to bid 30 years later in 2039. With the RATP anticipating this shift to a competitive environment, the company began to reorganize itself. In the early years of the 21st century, a partnership with Transdev resulted in RATP acquiring

7739-490: The city's bus system. Prior to this, the CMP had absorbed the Nord-Sud Company in 1930 and the Ligne de Sceaux in 1937, which operated commuter rail to the suburbs. The STCRP had been created on 1 January 1921 by the merger of about half a dozen independent bus and streetcar operators in the Paris area. By the time the STCRP was merged into the RATP, all of its streetcars had been replaced by bus routes. A major change in French law came on 3 November 2009, when article 5 of

7848-474: The city-state. In December 2020, RATP Dev and SBS Transit announced a partnership for future rail projects in Singapore, without referencing specific commercial targets. RATP Dev and SBS Transit are expected to bid for operations and maintenance of the future Jurong Region MRT line and the future Cross Island MRT line . In September 2020, RATP Dev announces a partnership with Getlink to jointly bid under

7957-709: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Trinity Metro Trinity Metro primarily operates the region's bus service, and TEXRail , a hybrid rail system connecting downtown Fort Worth with DFW Airport via Northeast Tarrant County. The agency is also involved in the operation of the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) commuter rail line between from downtown Fort Worth and downtown Dallas in partnership with Dallas Area Rapid Transit and

8066-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French

8175-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French

8284-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as

8393-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of

8502-585: The fleet with a target of 1,500 by 2025. RATP Dev (Dev being a contraction of Développement , French for development), established in 2002 as a 100% subsidiary of the RATP Group, provides operations and maintenance of passenger transport services outside of the "historical" RATP network in the Greater Paris area although it also operates some specialised services within Paris. RATP Dev is present in France as well as in 15 other countries, namely Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Egypt, Hong Kong, Italy, Morocco,

8611-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,

8720-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being

8829-559: The issue of joining the agency on the ballot. Blue Mound and Richland Hills voted in favor while Forest Hill declined the measure nearly 2–1. The T saw its first departure when voters in Lake Worth approved a pullout in September 2003. Service withdrawal became effective on March 21, 2004. Lake Worth had previously tried to pull out in 1996, but that measure failed. On November 8, 2016, Richland Hills residents voted to withdraw from

8938-454: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French

9047-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon

9156-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,

9265-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what

9374-538: The main downtown transit hub centered around bus lines all converging along the Houston/Throckmorton corridor, with northbound service on Throckmorton Street and southbound service on Houston Street. Trinity Metro currently operates two "trolley routes", which are tourist-friendly routes with unique branding and liveries. (Despite the "trolley" designation, the routes do not use trolley-replica buses.) From 2019 to 2024, Trinity Metro operated The Dash ,

9483-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by

9592-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of

9701-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French

9810-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in

9919-566: The second commuter rail project undertaken by the agency, and the first built solely by Trinity Metro. The rail line was initially envisioned to run along the existing Cotton Belt Railway Corridor from DFW airport to the Fort Worth Stockyards , head South along Union Pacific owned track to the Fort Worth Central Station , and continue along Fort Worth & Western Railroad tracks to Benbrook Lake. As of

10028-438: The state of Texas caps the total sales tax for a municipality at 2¢, many municipalities are unable to join without reducing their sales tax revenue. In lieu of full membership, Trinity Metro allows cities to gain service through interlocal agreements. For example, Grapevine and North Richland Hills made agreements in 2006 and 2016, respectively, to obtain stations on the then-planned TEXRail line. TEXRail , opened in 2018,

10137-409: The system, voters levied a half-cent sales tax. The CITRAN, SURTRAN, and MITS services were folded into the new agency, along with carpool and vanpool coordination. The agency's first addition came on November 5, 1991 when the small suburb of Lake Worth voted 344–206 in favor of joining the T. That prompted three more elections on May 2, 1992 when Blue Mound , Forest Hill and Richland Hills had

10246-466: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In

10355-405: The transit agency's board of directors voted to rebrand FWTA/The T as Trinity Metro, and revealed a new logo, that depicts three triangles forming the letter "M" in its negative spaces. The name change officially took place on March 23, 2018 on its website and social media presence. Full member cities of Trinity Metro are required to levy a 1 ⁄ 2 ¢ sales tax to pay for the system. Because

10464-754: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French

10573-401: The type of vehicle and distance traveled by each rider. Trinity Metro covers the cost of registration, insurance, fuel, and maintenance, though they do not cover tolls. The service is open to riders in eleven counties: Dallas , Ellis , Erath , Hood , Johnson , Navarro , Palo Pinto , Parker , Somervell , Tarrant , and Wise . A similar service operated by DCTA operates in the rest of

10682-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by

10791-485: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of

10900-536: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of

11009-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as

11118-503: The world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in

11227-603: Was € 5.704 billion ; it employed 64,000 people at that time. In recent decades, the company has operated on an increasingly competitive basis as a result of legislative changes. The RATP was created on 1 January 1949 by combining the assets of the Compagnie du Chemin de fer Métropolitain de Paris (CMP), which operated the Paris Métro, and the Société des Transports en Commun de la Région Parisienne (STCRP), which operated

11336-503: Was created as the Group's dedicated international operations and maintenance subsidiary; it is present in 16 countries across Africa , Asia , Australia , Europe and North America . RATP Group's Paris-related activities are still a major part of its business through to the present day; in 2019, it was recorded that, in the Île-de-France region, it carried roughly 3.3 billion passengers per year. In 2019, RATP Group's consolidated revenue

11445-819: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but

11554-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul

11663-652: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates

11772-594: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of

11881-570: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,

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