What you need to know about new rules for buses, bikes and Metro in Paris

Here are some of the major changes now in place for commuters

Children - Travel in Paris by bus or Metro is now free for all children aged under under 11 who live in the greater Paris Ile de France region. Starting from September 2nd, the start of the new school year, children aged under 11 travel free, while for local secondary age children, the city of Paris is offering a 50 percent refund of the Imagine R young person's travel card. There is also a refund on offer for the 'V-Plus jeune' Velib' subscription for children aged 14 to 18.

Metro - As is usual in Paris, the summer has seen many closures across the Metro network while works are ongoing. These are now complete (apart from the works on Line 11 which are set to continue until Christmas). Metro Line 6, which has been closed between Trocadero and Montparnasse all summer, has now reopened and the replacement bus service has stopped.

There's also changes to the Metro ticketing system. The Navigo Easy pass was introduced in June, but from September it will be possible to top it up using a smartphone, rather than having to go to the counter or ticket machine. Then in October the Navigo Liberté comes in. The Navigo Easy offers a paperless version of the standard Metro ticket, but the Navigo Liberté offers bundles of 10 or 20 tickets at the reduced price of €1.49 per ticket - the same rate as if you currently buy a carnet of 10 or 20 tickets.

RER - The RER suburban train network has also been the subject of major works, which are now nearing completion. On RER line A there will be an extra 13 trains a day stopping at Val d'Europe from the Paris direction. 

On RER line C the Saint-Michel station will reopen on September 8th while the Pont de l'Alma station, which has been under construction for two years, reopens on September 15th.

While if you're travelling on RER line D you may notice that the train you're in is a bit fancier - a fleet of new carriages with tinted windows, air conditioning and USB ports are arriving on the network.

Tram - After major modernisation work, the T4 tram line between Bondy and Aulnay-sous-Bois reopens on September 16th.

Sunday opening - In a new move, some Metro and tram lines will be running all night, but only on one Saturday a month. Six Metro lines and three tram lines will be open 24 hours a day. These are lines 1, 2, 5, 5, 6, 9 and 14 and trams 2, 3a and 3b; although not all stations will be served. The dates are set: September 14th, October 12th, November 9th, Tuesday, December 31st (New Year's Eve), January 11th, February 8th and March 7th.

Cyclists - The City of Paris is keen to encourage more people to cycle and is working on several big initiatives to make the city more bike friendly. One is the 'RER V' or RER Velo, which is a network of cycle paths coming from the suburbs in to central Paris. The hope is that more people commuting in from the suburbs will take to the bike. This September several of the new RER V routes will be opening up.

Also on offer for cyclists is the new 'Véligo Location' scheme - which offers any resident of the greater Paris Ile de France region the chance to rent an electric bike for €40 a month, up to a maximum of nine months. There will be 10,000 electric bikes in the fleet and the cost includes any repair or maintenance needed. For more information, click here.

Roads - due to the ongoing extension work on the T12 tram line, the A6 in Essonne between Wissous and Lisses will be closed overnight from September 2nd to October 4th. The closure runs from 9.30pm to 5am every night.