Parisians have voted overwhelmingly to ban rental electric scooters from the French capital, following a referendum organised by the city's mayor. The ban will come into effect in September when contracts expire for the city's scooter operators. The private owners of e-scooters will not be affected by the ban.
On Sunday, almost 90% of those who turned out for the referendum voted in favour of the ban. However, the turnout was low, with only 7.46% of registered voters casting their ballots. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said at a press conference over the weekend that “This is a victory for local democracy”.
The introduction of rental electric scooters in Paris had been one of a number of measures aimed at reducing the city's dependence on private cars and increasing the appeal of other modes of transport. However, e-scooters have also been criticised for causing a significant number of accidents, with a report last November from the French academy of medicine describing them as a “true public health problem”.
Operators of the e-scooters have responded to the news, with Nicolas Gorse, Chief Business Officer of Dott, one of the largest operators, highlighting that the ban will affect the 400,000 monthly users of the service and the 800 employees of the company in Paris. Gorse also noted that removing the e-scooters could result in increased saturation in public transport and greater use of individual vehicles.
Paris is not alone in grappling with the challenge of e-scooters, with Barcelona having partially banned them in 2016 and privately owned e-scooters remaining illegal for use on public roads in London.
