Paris bans shared e-scooters after 90% vote in favour

Paris has recently banned shared electric scooters after a referendum held on Sunday. The referendum saw an overwhelming majority of Paris residents vote against allowing shared scooters, with nearly 90 percent of voters supporting the ban.

Anne Hidalgo, a Spanish-French politician who has served as Mayor of Paris since 2014, and the first woman to hold the office, had previously expressed her desire to put an end to the services and the referendum result means that contracts for the city’s three operators, Lime, Dott and Tier, will not be renewed when they expire on September 1. These three companies currently operate 15,000 electric scooters in Paris.

The decision to ban the shared e-scooters comes as a result of growing frustration from city officials with operators’ use of public space and the number of accidents involving e-scooters. The turnout for the referendum was just under 8%, with approximately 103,000 voters participating. Officials expressed surprise at the disparity in the vote, which was consistent across all arrondissements.

Lime, Dott, and Tier released a joint statement after the vote, claiming that “very restrictive voting methods” led to low participation that skewed towards older voters. They also stated that the result would have a direct impact on the travel of 400,000 people per month, 71% of whom are 18-35 years old. They described the ban as a “step back for sustainable transport in Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympics.” The companies have previously welcomed regulation as an alternative to a flat ban and have implemented measures such as license plates, age verification, speed limits, and parking zones.

What led to the decision

Many local representatives in Paris saw shared scooters as a nuisance and complained about unruly riders, despite the measures taken by the operators and city officials to regulate the services. The French national government has indicated that it intends to tighten regulation of shared scooters further, setting a minimum user age of 14 and increasing fines for those riding two aboard from 35 euros ($38) to 135 euros ($147).

Read more on The top 5 BMX Riders of the 21st Century (yet)