A Deliveroo delivery man at Place Royale in Nantes.
-
F. Brenon / 20Minutes
The city of Nantes' prohibition order takes effect on Monday, March 8.
It concerns the pedestrian zone, which concentrates a large number of restaurants.
The measure will complicate the work of delivery men working for Uber Eats or Deliveroo.
It will be the first large French city to adopt a specific decree.
Faced with the very sharp increase in scooter deliveries since the start of the health crisis, the city hall of Nantes has decided to ban their circulation in pedestrian areas from Monday, March 8.
Concretely, scooter drivers will be banned on the pedestrian platform from 11:30 am to 6:00 am, as the delivery trucks were already.
Only scooters and electric vehicles will remain tolerated.
Objective: to reduce noise pollution and road safety problems.
“Home delivery has grown enormously.
And delivery men, to meet demand and earn an income that is not too shabby, since they are exploited by the poor, have replaced their bikes with much faster and noisier scooters ”, explains Pascal Bolo, deputy mayor of Nantes .
"We do not want to prevent the people of Nantes from being delivered to their homes," continues the elected socialist.
Neither do we want to prevent restaurant owners from saving what they can under the current circumstances, nor to prevent delivery people from working.
What we want is to regulate this practice which was in great need of it.
"
“We noticed more than one scooter per minute!
"
There are more than 500 self-employed delivery people in Nantes.
Their activity mainly focuses on transporting meals from the Bouffay, Commerce and Graslin districts.
"One afternoon or one evening, deliveries can be counted in the thousands, it's huge," says Corinne Rotach.
With her association Ras le Scoot, this inhabitant of the city center carries out counts.
“Place Royale, we found more than one scooter per minute!
For pedestrians it's dangerous and for residents it's hellish.
Especially in the evening, the city calms down and the noise echoes in these small, steep streets.
"Although customers of delivery platforms (mainly Uber Eats and Deliveroo), restaurant owners are" well aware of the problems ", assures Olivier Dardé, president of the association of downtown merchants.
“It was becoming nonsense.
The neighbors complain a lot, ”he says.
From now on, delivery people will therefore have to park their scooters at the stations provided for this purpose (around forty around the pedestrian perimeter).
And perform on foot, or by bike, the 200 m-300 m separating them from the restaurant.
“We will obviously make their lives more difficult,” recognizes Pascal Bolo.
But they will have to adapt to the rule.
I do not know of a profession which does not have constraints of rules to respect.
The month of March will be devoted to "pedagogy and information".
Then, an offender will be liable to a fine of 135 euros.
Will the parking lots be sufficient?
The spokesperson for the traders fears that the measure is "a little difficult to apply", especially with regard to parking lots.
“The locations must be sufficiently identified and practical.
Otherwise the delivery people will leave their scooters in the small streets nearby.
Near Mc Donald's in Feydeau, where there are sometimes more than 30 delivery people, it could be a rat race for example.
Olivier Dardé is also worried about the consequences for those concerned.
“It is again these young people with extremely difficult working conditions who are going to drink.
None will be able to afford an electric scooter.
"
A Deliveroo delivery man at Place Royale in Nantes.
- F. Brenon / 20Minutes
Hamari has been working for Deliveroo for almost a year.
He explains that it is "too difficult to go from one district to another other than by scooter".
“Those who are on a bicycle do not go fast enough.
If we have to tie up the scooter and walk to pick up the order, we'll be late too.
I don't know how it's going to happen, ”he wonders.
"A great concern on the part of restaurants and delivery people"
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, the delivery platform Uber Eats does not hide its dissatisfaction.
She considers the timing ill-chosen and criticizes the municipality for a lack of consultation.
"The decree taken by the city of Nantes generates great concern on the part of restaurants using the application, in particular the hundred of them located in the pedestrian zone and, on the part of many delivery people, reacts a spokesperson. .
We remain convinced that only a collaborative and open approach will make it possible to build a sustainable solution to meet the expectations of all stakeholders.
"
Uber Eats claims to have warned many delivery people of the new regulations in force.
She also claims to have reminded them of the assistance devices for the purchase of an electric bicycle.
“It's the compensation system put in place by the platforms that pushes delivery people to ride like crazy.
They are indeed the ones responsible, ”criticizes the Ras le scoot association.
"The decree of the city of Nantes will be emulated, is convinced the deputy mayor Pascal Bolo.
All the big cities have been confronted with this problem for a year.
»In Montpellier, non-electric scooters, driven by delivery people or not, are prohibited on the pedestrian platform.
The town hall is vigilant and has issued numerous fines since January.
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Motorized two-wheelers already banned
Motorcycles and scooters driven by individuals were already prohibited on the pedestrian plateau in downtown Nantes.
Until then, only delivery people were tolerated.
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Uber
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Nantes