Two men ride an electric scooter in Paris on September 4, 2021 (AFP/Archives/-)
Victims of their success or impossible to regulate… Self-service scooters are no longer welcome in Paris, where residents are called to vote on April 2 to decide their future.
Accused of littering the asphalt despite the 2,500 dedicated spaces, of brushing pedestrians on the sidewalks at full speed or of not being so ecological because of a supposedly poor carbon footprint, these shared machines have not succeeded in wager on living together with other street users.
While the contract signed in 2020 by the town hall with the three operators Dott, Lime and Tier, for an annual amount of 907,000 euros, expires at the end of March, the PS mayor Anne Hidalgo entrusted Parisians with the task of deciding on their future through a simplified referendum.
On April 2, they will be able to say “yes” or “no” to scooters, provided they go to one of the capital’s polling stations.
“With more than two million unique users having used the service (…) this year (2022, editor’s note), having made it possible to avoid the emission of 700 tonnes of CO2 in 2021 in the capital, we are convinced that Parisians have become aware of the role that low-carbon micromobilities play”, reacted in a press release the three operators, reporting 400,000 different users in October and a 71% increase in journeys since October 2020.
In 2018, a dozen companies had settled in the capital with their self-service scooters, but the excesses led the city to limit the market to three operators in 2020.
In 2019, a decree had already regulated their use: it sets the minimum age for use at 12 years old, limits their speed to 25 km/h, prohibits traffic on sidewalks and use by others, and obliges them to be equipped with front and rear position lamps.
– “Insufficient” progress –
After the death of a 32-year-old Italian woman in June 2021, hit by an electric scooter on which two people were riding, Paris had forced operators to restrict the speed to 10 km / h in 700 dense areas.
Like Paris, other capitals such as Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen have strongly regulated the use of self-service scooters.
On Tuesday, the Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune came to the aid of Parisian operators by speaking out for a national “regulation plan” rather than a ban. He fears in particular to “break a mode of transport which can be ecological”.
In a statement, the right-wing opposition said that a deletion will “not solve the whole problem”.
“As a matter of principle, we traditionally favor freedom in all things, accompanied by regulation when necessary, rather than outright prohibition”, she judges.
“It has been two and a half years since we put in place the maximum regulations authorized by law and we are asking the government for new tools to regulate self-service scooters, without any results to date”, reacted to from AFP the Parisian deputy in charge of transport David Belliard.
Despite progress, he still considers “very insufficient” the measures taken or envisaged by operators to improve cohabitation with other street users, citing technologies that would make it possible to prevent two-person traffic, on sidewalks or in a state of drunkenness.
Warned by the town hall in September, the operators had formulated eleven avenues for improvement in November, including the registration of the machines.
“These proposals are only the fruit of their inaction after months of discussions”, according to David Belliard, who also criticizes the “short lifespan” of scooters.
According to figures from operators, scooter users are rather young (33 years old on average) and local (85% residents of Greater Paris). 42% are women, 40% have an annual income below the French median income (22,000 euros per year) and they cover an average of 2.7 km on their machine.
© 2023 AFP
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