Electric scooters in front of the Eiffel Tower: The population of the French capital voted against the further use of e-scooters.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
Paris Parisians have voted by a large majority to ban e-scooter rentals in the city. In a citizen survey on Sunday, 89 percent were in favor of abolishing rental scooters. However, only 7.46 percent of the approximately 1.3 million residents registered in the voter lists took part in the vote. Irrespective of this, Paris considers the outcome of the citizen survey to be binding.
“The citizens have spoken out clearly against the e-scooters,” said Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Sunday evening in the town hall. “From September 1st there will be no more rental scooters in Paris. This is a victory for local democracy.” Despite the weak response the survey found in the city, the mayor said it was impressive that around 100,000 residents turned out to vote.
Hidalgo, who initiated the survey, made no secret of the fact that she would rather see the scooters banned from the city. In any case, the use of private e-scooters should not be restricted.
Rental companies will likely sue
Three rental companies offer around 15,000 e-scooters in Paris, with which tourists and locals are often quite careless. There are accidents and chaos on the sidewalks and calls for a ban. As the newspaper “Le Monde” reported, there were 408 accidents with e-scooters in Paris last year, with three dead and 459 injured.
The license for the landlords expires at the end of August. Providers should not accept the end of e-scooters in the metropolis of Paris without resistance. They have already expressed concern that there will also be bans elsewhere.
E-scooters often cause trouble in German cities. Many municipalities have now declared war on the parking chaos in this country. In some places there are already separate parking areas for scooters and tickets for wrongly parked vehicles.
>>Read here, why individual scooter providers are withdrawing.
Every month around 400,000 people in Paris use the “Trottinettes”, as the e-scooters are called in French. The newspaper “Le Parisien” reported that 1.7 million trips were made with the scooters in October alone.
At the beginning of December, the scooter rental companies tightened the rules to avert an impending ban. Users are required to scan their ID upon registration so only adults can use the scooters and hooligans can be more easily identified and banned from rentals. This should also make it easier to track traffic violations with the scooters, which should also be given license plates. It was assured that unused scooters lying around on sidewalks and squares would be cleared away more quickly. The landlords wanted to use twice as many staff.
More: Why e-scooters sell better and e-motorcycles flop.