Parisians voted against maintaining self-service in the capital

It’s a “no”. Parisians voted against maintaining self-service electric scooters in the capital on Sunday April 2, with nearly 90% of the votes cast. This election was marked by a very low turnout, less than 8% of registered voters, the office of the mayor of Paris told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Parisian city councilor, Anne Hidalgo, had undertaken to respect the result of this organized vote in order to settle the lively debate on the place of these two-wheelers on the sidewalks and the asphalt of the capital. She herself campaigned for the vote ” against “, emphasizing that eliminating these scooters would reduce ” nuisances “ on the asphalt and the sidewalks of the capital.

The polling stations, mostly grouped together in the district town halls on the occasion of this “citizen vote” unprecedented in Paris, closed at 7 p.m. This physical ballot in Parisian polling stations was open to all persons registered on the Parisian electoral lists (including European Union nationals registered on the municipal supplementary list).

The town hall must renew or not the contracts authorizing three private operators (Lime, Tier and Dott) to each deploy 5,000 scooters in the capital, which expire on August 31. In recent days, the municipality had little illusion about the level of participation in this consultation, on a subject considered secondary even within its majority.

The scooter operators had unsuccessfully demanded electronic voting, pointing out that only a third of 18-24 year olds, their first clientele, had heard of the ballot.

After welcoming them in 2018, Paris could become the only European capital to completely ban self-service scooters.

408 accidents in Paris in 2022

The three operators have tried everything to avoid eviction, which would send a negative signal to medium-sized towns reluctant to authorize this service. Including with controversial methods, such as offering a free race on voting day, or using influencers on social networks to mobilize their young clientele. “Legal”, defended himself on RMC Nicolas Gorse, general manager of Dott, speaking on behalf of the three operators. He warned of the economic consequences of a ban, scooters in Paris weighing 15% of the turnover of Dott, which employs 800 people in Paris.

Electric scooters are accused by their detractors of being abandoned anywhere in the public space, of grazing pedestrians on the sidewalks at full speed, or of ultimately having a bad carbon footprint.

Dangerous when mishandled, these two-wheelers – whether self-service or not – were involved in 408 accidents in Paris in 2022, in which three people died and 459 were injured, according to authorities.

“It’s anarchic”

Voters polled on Sunday, few of whom were under 30, voted overwhelmingly ” against “. “It’s dangerous, both for those who use them and for pedestrians”thinks Françoise Granier, who went to vote at the town hall of the 9th arrondissement. “We never verbalize! »was indignant this 68-year-old doctor, deploring pell-mell the incivilities of the “scooters”cyclists or motorcyclists.

“I have no other means of transport, I do everything with it”assures Clément, 33, who does not want to give his name, and came by scooter to the town hall of Xe to vote for because he “want[t] have an alternative when [s]he personal scooter is under repair, which happens every three months”he said.

“We’re tired of people saying that it’s a means of transport for young people! »exclaims Servane Gaxotte, 57, a stylist from the 11th arrondissement who also uses self-service scooters “much more mobile” than the bike. “It’s anarchic, the users don’t respect the highway code, they are often in pairs and go very fast”gets carried away Emmanuel Gabriot, purchaser in the distribution met in Xe district.

“Certainly, there are still traffic violations and dangerous behavior. That’s about people, not machines.”defended Nicolas Gorse on behalf of the operators. “What is needed is to educate, detect, sanction”according to him.