ELECTRIC SCOOTER PARIS. A vote is organized in Paris on Sunday April 2, 2023 to decide the future of self-service electric scooters. Are they going to be banned?
Seeing a pile of scooters on a street corner, tangled on top of each other at the edge of the sidewalk, is not an unusual scene in Paris. It is even more and more recurrent. Just like that of seeing users rolling on the sidewalks. However, we are not talking here about simple machines for children but about electric scooters, available in self-service, which everyone can easily use by unlocking the machine from their smartphone.
In Paris, three companies offer these self-service means of transport: Lime, Tier and Dott. Since 2018, these operators have gradually settled in the landscape of the capital with their equipment. However, the absence of a real framework on their use and the multiplication of accidents, sometimes fatal, forced the authorities to take up the subject, all the more so in the face of the division of the inhabitants on the subject.
A question at the heart of the news because Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, is organizing a vote this Sunday, April 2, 2023 to gather the opinion of the inhabitants. The question posed to locals is simple: “For or against self-service scooters in Paris?” The councilor is transparent: the end of self-service for electric scooters would delight her. However, she is keen to consult with her constituents on the matter. Officially, since March 23, operators no longer have the right to leave their scooters in self-service, the contract having ended. A little extra has however been granted by the municipality pending the outcome of this consultation. Will the license be renewed? That’s the whole point.
Electric scooters concentrate as much annoyance as satisfaction. On the one hand, the slayers denounce a permanent anarchy; on the other, defenders tout an environmentally friendly way to move quickly through the capital. In terms of anarchy, the municipality has already taken orders to prohibit parking on the sidewalks and force operators to restrict speed in the heart of the city.
On the ecological side, this aspect is widely questioned. First, because the scooter does not replace the car but public transport: the vast majority of users usually travel with the metro, RER or tram. Not enough to reduce CO2 emissions significantly, noted Anne de Bortoli, researcher in “sustainability of transport” at the École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC), in The Conversation, quoted by Le Point.
In addition, she added that “the emissions linked to fleet management between Paris and the inner suburbs using diesel vans are considerable. Some managers have gone electric, reducing their carbon impact, but not enough to make scooters electric. more efficient than public transport or active modes.”
Yes, Anne Hidalgo has the power to ban self-service electric scooters in Paris. “I will respect the vote of Parisians, even if it is contrary to what I would like,” the mayor told Le Parisien, thus putting the fate of the operators in the hands of the voters. As it is a municipal market, the socialist councilor is the decision maker in the matter. It is not up to the state, via the government or the police headquarters, to interfere in this case.
It is no longer possible to register to participate in the vote. The deadline was March 3. Only Parisian voters registered on the municipal electoral lists of the capital will be able to take part in the vote. The latter is organized only on the day of Sunday, April 2, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The list of polling stations scheduled for this vote can be found on the Paris City Hall website. A presentation of the identity card is necessary to participate in the vote.
