The citizen vote of April 2 sealed the fate of self-service electric scooters in Paris: 89% of voters voted against their retention. The Town Hall should respect this vote. The fleets of Dott, Lime and Tier should thus disappear over the water by August 31, which marks the end of their contract.
A final result: 89% of voters who participated in the citizen vote on Sunday April 2 concerning the maintenance, or not, of self-service electric scooters in Paris slipped the ballot “against” into the ballot box. A figure to put into perspective with a maddening abstention rate, 92% in total, for 8% participation.
To say that this vote reflects the overall will of Parisians is probably an easy shortcut, given the strong abstention observed. Especially since Lime, Dott and Tier, the three private operators, quickly criticized the organizational conditions: one polling station per district, proxy prohibited and no electronic voting.
End of contracts on August 31
For the three companies, this has led to a widening gap between pros and cons, of a magnitude rarely seen in a vote in France that reflects asymmetric conditions “, Can we read in a joint press release sent to the editorial staff. For them, “the mobilization could have been broader and more representative if the methods of the vote had been different “.
The fact is that the mayor of Paris, in the person of Anne Hidalgo, has been hammering for several months to want to respect the outcome of this citizen consultation. The person concerned, for her part, explicitly positioned herself against the maintenance of electric scooters. In short: there is no reason for the fleets to persist.
Electric scooters from Dott, Lime and Tier won’t disappear overnight. The trio has indeed signed a contract until August 31: by then, the machines should gradually be withdrawn from circulation. At the same time, the 800 people employed by the operators are threatened with losing their jobs.
A human resources manager told theParisianonly “backup planswill be put on the table. But according to the person concerned,the possibilities of redeployment in Île-de-France are limited“. “From now on, our priority as responsible employers is to secure the future of our employees.“, assures the trio in the press release.
And to continue:The result of this vote will have a direct impact on the movements of 400,000 people per month“. For Dott, Lime and Tier, the end of their operations in Paris would also and above all be a blow to their finances: the French capital represents 15% of their turnover.
What about the 2500 parking zones?
The three companies hopenow a rapid resumption of dialogue with the Town Hall to discuss next steps“. There is little hope that Anne Hidalgo does not respect the outcome of the citizen vote: on the one hand, she would lose credibility, on the other, she would reap the discontent of people who voted “against”.
For their part, Dott, Lime and Tier will not completely disappear from the landscape, since their self-service electric bikes still have their place in Paris. See also how the 2,500 parking areas for electric scooters will be reorganized in the public space.
Frandroidcontacted Dott, Lime, Tier as well as the press officer of David Belliard, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of the transformation of public space, transport, mobility, the street code and roads . We have not yet received any response from them.
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