The blue and gray mosaic in the shape of the chevron logo is nicely sealed on the concrete floor. This former Citroën garage, in the heart of Paris, now serves as a logistics center for the Dott company, which manages a fleet of 5,000 scooters and 3,000 bicycles in the capital. Opposite the metal cabinets housing shelves of batteries being charged, the trailers of the cargo bikes, with which the “patrolmen” go to change the batteries of the scooters scattered around the city, are perfectly arranged.
In this place, Baptiste Jeannin, operations manager for scooters, and Marouan Benazza, team manager, do not hide their concern for their future and that of Dott employees in Paris. Indeed, the municipality could end the contracts which, since 2020, grant the three operators of self-service scooters Dott, Lime and Tier a right to use public space. This is, in any case, the wish of David Belliard, deputy mayor (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, EELV) in charge of transport.
“This mode of travel is not virtuous, since it replaces walking, he says. Accidents have increased by 189% since 2019, and the scooter generates an anxiety-provoking climate, at a time when the reorganization of public space, which results for example in the modification of bus stops, requires appropriation by users. » In other words, as everything changes in the city, scooters would add to the confusion. The decision now rests with the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, who must decide ” in the next weeks “according to his deputy.
“Paris was a pioneer”
Operators, alarmed, deploy well-rehearsed arguments. “Removing a means of mobility that does not emit CO2 would be a misinterpretation”, believes Maggy Gerbeaux, director of public affairs at Dott. The scooters, which their operators say are used by 450,000 people a month, have gotten stronger and heavier, and would now have “a lifespan of six years”, says Hadi Karam, manager of Lime. Most maintenance operations are carried out by electric scooter or cargo bike.
A life cycle analysis carried out by the German research institute Fraunhofer affirms that “self-service electric scooters can help reduce carbon emissions”. Since 2020, customers must park vehicles in delimited spaces, under penalty of penalties. In September, Lime issued 6,000 penalties to users, mostly tourists, who had omitted this rule. “Paris was a pioneer, pushing the industry to organize itself. Everyone cites the model of Anne Hidalgo as an example”assures Hadi Karam, as if to better coax the mayor of Paris.
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