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Starting in early September, electric scooters will be banned in Paris. PHOTO/Reuters
PARIS – Paris will prohibit distribution electric scooter from 1 September. This certainty was obtained after the public chose to remove it from the streets. However, the e-scooter operator said on Monday (3/4/2023), that they hoped to drop the plan.
The e-scooter ban won 89 percent of the vote according to the town hall’s Twitter account in what it described as a rare “public consultation” that prompted long lines at ballot boxes around town.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo said she would respect the vote. “From September 1, there will be no more electric scooters for rent in Paris,” he told a news conference.
The scooter operator pointed to the low turnout and said they hoped Hidalgo would seek a compromise.
“We remain hopeful that we can continue to work with Mayor Hidalgo to adopt a sensible regulation rather than a ban on e-scooters, and avoid a step backwards for Paris,” said a spokesperson for Lime.
A spokeswoman for Dott said the referendum was “significantly influenced by very strict voting methods” which resulted in very low turnout and tended towards older age groups.
French Transport Minister Clement Beaune, who is being eyed as a candidate for mayor in 2026, said on BFM television that the vote was a “massive failure of democracy”.
Electric scooters accessed via a smartphone app have been operating in Paris since 2018, but following complaints about their anarchist spread, Paris in 2020 slashed the number of operators to three.
It gave them a three-year contract, required that scooter speeds be limited to 20 km/h and enforced designated scooter parking areas, similar to restrictions imposed in other cities around the world. The current contract runs through September.
The operator has offered further regulations, including checking users over 18 years of age, fixing license plates so police can identify traffic violators and limiting one passenger.
In 2021, 24 people died in scooter-related accidents in France, including one person in Paris. Last year, Paris recorded 459 accidents with e-scooters and similar vehicles, including three fatalities.
(esn)
