The outcome of the ballot is not the shadow of a doubt. This Sunday, April 2, the town hall of Paris organized a “citizen vote” to determine whether the self-service electric scooters of Lime, Dott and Tier, the only three authorized operators in the city, will be maintained or not in the capital. . And the results fell at more than 10 p.m. with a very large majority of opponents of these micro-mobility devices which abound and sometimes clutter the sidewalks. In all the boroughs, the vote against reached more than 85%. On the other hand, the mobilization was weak, with 103,084 voters, out of 1,382,322 registered on the electoral lists.
Anne Hidalgo had pledged to follow the opinion of Parisians on the issue, and scooters should therefore soon disappear from the streets of Paris. Still, this referendum was strongly criticized, organized in few polling stations, without the possibility of voting online, and a marathon day. For their part, the operators have put all the means in place to push users to the polls, even if it means sometimes playing with the limits. Lime had notably promised free “ride” minutes in exchange for proof of registration on the electoral lists.
“This evening, the Parisians who spoke overwhelmingly spoke out against self-service scooters. Their very clear message is now becoming our roadmap. With my team, we will follow up on their decision as I got involved”, declared the city councilor of Paris, following the proclamation of the results. The scooters will therefore disappear on September 1, unless there are new developments.