From 1 ° September i scooters electric in sharing will no longer be available a Paris. On the streets of the French capital, the removal of over 15 scooters offered by various shared mobility companies has already begun. Paris is also the first European capital to completely ban the controversial two-wheeled vehicles, but it may not be the last.
To decree the end of scooters under the Eiffel Tower is the referendum citizen of last April: almost 90% of voters expressed themselves in favor of the ban (however, the representation was only 7% due to strong abstention). Dott, Lime and Tier Mobility - the three operators in the sector that supplied scooters to Paris - have until August 31 to completely free the French capital from scooters which will be transferred elsewhere, in detail to Bordeaux, Lille, Berlin, London, Tel Aviv, Copenhagen and Belgium.
Why is Paris taking scooter sharing off the streets?
Scooter sharing in Paris was short-lived. Present since 2018, they immediately went wild controversy for their misuse by users. In 2020 the town hall tried in vain to regulate the market, limiting the number of operators authorized to offer the service in the capital to three. The Paris City Council then openly encouraged voters to shut down the service due to the 189% increase in accidents since 2019, also speaking of an anxious climate in the capital. The top management of the three excluded companies are critical. According to the Californian company Lime, “the city of Paris is an exception on European territory. Our scooters will be relocated to leading international and cosmopolitan cities.”
Sharing scooters: what other European cities think
There are other European cities that have restricted the circulation of electric scooters in certain areas. For example, ad Amsterdam electric scooters are severely restricted and very strict safety standards are required for driving on public roads.
Meanwhile a Milano we are thinking of stricter rules for safety to be included in the next tender for sharing mobility. Even the mayor of Florence Dario Nardella asks to "regulate their use" through "a national strategy, for safe use".
