This time it’s really over. Voters put an end to a years-old debate this weekend: whether to keep self-service electric scooters on the streets of the capital. With an overwhelming majority, they voted against. The contract of the main distributors will therefore not be renewed on September 1st.
At least the answer is clear. This Sunday, April 2, Parisians voted to 89.03% against maintaining self-service electric scooters in their city. At least, the 7.5% of voters having moved, that is to say exactly 103,084 inhabitants. These two-wheelers have been on the hot seat in the capital for several months now. Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, had thus announced her intention to finally close the debate with a referendum.
After their ban on minors, the entire Parisian population will no longer have access to scooters from Lime, Tier and Dott, the main distributors. For her part, Anne Hidalgo welcomes this “beautiful day for participatory democracy, which is much better than opinion democracy and probing democracy”. Paris is thus preparing to become the first capital in Europe to ban these vehicles.
Paris no longer wants self-service electric scooters on its streets
However, it is not the fault of the operators to have tried to turn the vote in their favor. A few days before the final decision, a controversy erupted on social networks after influencers called to vote for the maintenance of scooters, subject of course to finance. So that won’t be enough. In a joint press release, the three companies notably regret the very low participation in the vote of Parisians.
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“We take note of this unprecedented consultation, the mobilization of which could have been broader and more representative if the methods of the vote had been different: more polling stations, electronic voting, municipal information”write the latter. “The result of this vote will have a direct impact on the travel of 400,000 people per month. » As well as on the 800 employees working in Paris and its surroundings.