Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters in referendum

Almost 90 per cent of voters do not want the vehicles on their streets

About 100,000 journeys are completed each day in France on rented e-scooters in 200 towns and cities. EPA

Paris residents have voted overwhelmingly to banish for-hire electric scooters from the streets of the French capital, delivering a blow to operators and a victory for road safety campaigners.

The city of light, once a pioneer in embracing e-scooter services, is set to become the only major European capital to outlaw the widespread devices booked on apps such as Lime.

In a public consultation organised by mayor Anne Hidalgo, the city's residents were asked to vote for or against the e-scooters, with about 90 per cent opposing them, official results showed on Sunday.

“We're happy. It's what we've been fighting for over four years,” Arnaud Kielbasa, co-founder of the Apacauvi charity, which represents victims of e-scooter accidents, told AFP.

“All Parisians say they are nervous on the pavements, nervous when they cross the roads. You need to look everywhere. That's why they've voted against them.”

Mr Kielbasa's wife and infant daughter were hit by an e-scooter rider.

Operators say they are being unfairly singled out as responsible for the often chaotic nature of Paris streets, where Ms Hidalgo has championed bikes and other forms of non-emitting transport since taking power in 2014.

Her administration welcomed e-scooter operators in 2018, but has progressively tightened regulations since, creating designated parking zones, limiting the top speed and restricting the number of operators.

But such measures have failed to convince residents, who often complain about reckless and drunken driving, as well as clutter on pavements.

A spate of fatal accidents has also highlighted the dangers of vehicles that can currently be hired by children as young as 12.

“I'm committed to respecting the choice of voters, purely and simply,” Ms Hidalgo, 63, said.

She is expected not to renew operating contracts for the city's three operators — Lime based in California, Dott in Amsterdam and Tier in Berlin — from August 31.

Ms Hidalgo said on Sunday that their business model was “very expensive — €5 [$5.40] for 10 minutes. It's not very sustainable, and above all, it's the cause of a lot of accidents”.

The consultation will not affect privately owned electric scooters, of which 700,000 were sold nationwide last year, according to transport ministry figures.

About 100,000 journeys are completed each day in France on rented e-scooters in about 200 towns and cities.

The ban represents a significant financial and reputational blow for the multinational operators and could encourage other cities to follow suit.

Montreal outlawed all electric scooters for rental or private use in 2020, while Copenhagen banned rental versions in 2020 before bringing them back a year later with stricter conditions.

E-scooter companies have backed tighter regulations in France, unveiled by the government last week, which would increase the minimum age to 14 and increase fines for offences such as driving with a passenger.

“Of course, there are driving offences and dangerous behaviour. That's human nature, not the vehicle,” Nicolas Gorse, managing director of Dott, told LCI television on Sunday.

“What we need is to educate, detect and punish.”

Hadi Karam, general manager for France at Lime, told AFP last week that Paris was going “against the current” in seeking to ban rental e-scooters, quoting recent decisions to increase them in Washington, New York, Madrid or London.

“There's a trend towards these vehicles and this trend started in Paris which was a pioneer.”

Operators offered free rides to customers who voted on Sunday and employed online influencers to try to drum up support among their mostly young users — largely in vain, judging by the high proportion of older voters in queues.

“They're dangerous, both for those who use them and for pedestrians,” Francoise Granier, 68, a doctor who voted in the ninth district of the capital, said.

“And the police never intervene.”

IT worker Michael Dahan, 50, deplored the state of the capital's streets.

“If it was better regulated, I wouldn't be against,” Mr Dahan said.

“But you see people behaving in a crazy way.”