Parisians overwhelmingly voted to ban e-scooters on Sunday, in a hotly-debated referendum that hasdivided the French capital.
Voters got two selections: “for” or “against” a city-wide ban on shared e-scooters.
89% voted in favour of the ban, however the general turnout was low, with solely 7.5% of eligible voters casting ballots.
The vote was non-binding however metropolis authorities havevowed to “abide by the decision”, mentioned Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
The streets of Paris shall be cleared from shared e-scooters by September 1, the mayor mentioned. That’s when the contract with Dott, Tier, and Lime — the three e-scooter suppliers presently working within the metropolis — will expire.
The ban won’t affect the e-bikes provided by shared micro-mobility corporations, which is able to stay within the metropolis.
Despite welcoming e-scooters with open arms in 2018, Paris’ native authorities has progressively tightened its grip over the previous 5 years, imposing designated parking zones and velocity limits, and limiting the variety of operators.
But regardless of the rules, considerations over security, following a number of deadlyaccidents, and complaints about scooters blocking sidewalks and disrupting different commuters, introduced the difficulty to a head, with many calling for an outright ban.
Mayor Hidalgo agreed, saying the e-scooters have been a “source of tension and worry.” But as an alternative of banning them outright, she introduced the choice to the folks.
In January, the mayorintroduced what she described as a “public consultation”, to settle the difficulty forward of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The e-scooter operators shortly launched a counter-offensive, providing free rides to all customers that vote of their favour, and using social media influencers to again their trigger. But to no avail.
With the outcomes now in, Paris is now set to develop into the primary European capital to ban the mode of transport.
Berlin-based Tier Mobility, Amsterdam-based Dott, and San Francisco-based Lime mentioned they have been “disappointed” by the information.
The operatorsmentioned in a joint assertion that the deployment of solely 21 poll stations and no possibility to vote digitally led to “an extremely low turnout, heavily skewed toward older age groups.”
In 2022, Paris recorded about 20 million journeys on 15,000 shared e-scooters — 71% of those customers have been underneath 35. Many riders are additionally vacationers, who don’t get to vote.
Mayor Hidalgo, however, known as the outcome “a victory for local democracy.”
But not all politicians have been in help of an outright ban. Transport Minister Clement Beaune helps a continuation of e-scooters in Paris, however with extra guidelines. He known as the turnout “a massive democratic flop” and mentioned a Paris e-scooter phaseout would undermine efforts to decarbonise transport.
Hadi Karam, basic supervisor for France at Lime, instructed AFP final week that Paris was going “against the current” in searching for to ban rental e-scooters.
Elsewhere in France, the mayor of Lyon, France’s third largest metropolis, has simply agreed to a four-year extension of its contract with Tier and Dott.
Further afield, New York, London, and Madrid are all increasing the usage of e-scooters in a bid to decarbonise their transport techniques.
It stays to be seen whether or not Paris’ ban on e-scooters will encourage different cities to comply with swimsuit, however it does symbolize a serious blow for Dott, Tier, and Lime, who’ve now been barred from working in one of many world’s largest shared micro-mobility markets.
…. to be continued
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