In principle, the vote that took place was non-binding, and in any case the city council had the last word. But the mayor of Paris has promised in advance to support the position of the inhabitants of the capital. Hidalgo has repeatedly argued in the past that rental electric scooters have become a “source of stress and anxiety” for Parisians and that banning them would “reduce inconvenience” in public places. Now the mayor of Paris is waiting for similar referendums on rental scooters to take place in other French cities. In principle, the town hall could decide on scooters alone, as has already been done in other French cities – Toulouse, Nice, Montpellier. There, given the many complaints from citizens, the municipal councils dispensed with surveys of the population. But in Paris, Anne Hidalgo went to the referendum, according to her opponents, to play “democracy”, trying to restore her very shaken rating with Parisians, in particular, because she badly managed the problem of cleaning the streets of the city. piles of trash due to a long scavenger strike.In 2022, Parisians made 18 million trips on rental scooters. 71% of users were between 18 and 35 years oldFor his part, Transport Minister Clément Bon described the referendum as “a huge democratic failure”, since only 8% of Parisians took part in it (1.3 million people have the right to vote in the capital).
In the capital of France, there are three private companies that rent electric scooters. Their total fleet is around 15,000 units of equipment. In 2022, Parisians made 18 million trips on rental scooters. 71% of users were between 18 and 35 years old. Scooter rental companies have even offered Parisians free daytime rides to convince them to vote against the ban. But this did not help the most aware users among young people. As a result, the opponents of the lease in the referendum won with an overwhelming score, and businessmen have no choice but to close their operations after the end of the summer season. The cash of the city, where three companies-operators of rental devices contribute up to 960 thousand euros per year, will it suffer? To a small extent, given that the annual budget of the French capital is counted in billions of euros.
It should be noted that the French authorities have recently also drawn attention to the situation of electric scooters – not only rental ones, but also all others. A few days ago, it was decided to raise the age limit for electric scooter users from 12 to 14 years old. At the same time, fines have been increased from 35 to 135 euros for offenses such as driving on sidewalks and other prohibited urban areas, as well as for “pair skating”. Not to mention exceeding the speed limit, which for this means of individual mobility is limited to 20 kilometers per hour.
