Invited to express themselves on self-service scooters, Parisians voted against by nearly 90% this Sunday, April 2, in a vote marked by a very low participation: less than 8% of those registered.End of the race for self-service scooters in Paris Fifteen thousand electric scooters are made available in the capital by three operators (Lime, Dott and Tier). AFP - JOEL SAGET Text by: RFI Follow 3 min Invited to express themselves on self-service scooters, Parisians voted against by nearly 90% this Sunday, April 2, in a vote marked by a very low participation: less than 8% of those registered.

End of the race for self-service scooters in Paris

Fifteen thousand electric scooters are made available in the capital by three operators (Lime, Dott and Tier). AFP - JOEL SAGET

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

Invited to express themselves on self-service scooters, Parisians voted against by nearly 90% this Sunday, April 2, in a vote marked by a very low participation: less than 8% of those registered.

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The scooter vote is unquestionably a democratic success ", applauded this Sunday afternoon on Twitter the deputy mayor of Paris, Patrick Bloche, commenting on a photo showing a huge queue in front of the town hall of the eleventh arrondissement. Finally, out of 1.3 million Parisian voters invited to express themselves on the future of these self-service scooters, only about 100,000 have moved. That is a participation rate of less than 8%.

Parisians have shown their deep disinterest in the vote (...) organized by Anne Hidalgo ", mocked the municipal right in a statement. Paris councillor Pierre-Yves Bournazel (Horizons) denounced "the lack of commitment of the municipal executive" for this consultation.

Still. If the Parisians were few to go to the polls, the choice of those who did so is without appeal. To the question "For or against self-service electric scooters in Paris", the against won with 89% of the vote. This marks the end of these scooters in the capital, Mayor Anne Hidalgo having pledged to respect the result of this consultative referendum, whatever it is. She herself campaigned for the vote "against" by stressing that the eviction of these scooters would reduce "nuisance" on the asphalt and sidewalks of the capital.

A long shot

Deploring that the election is organized only in twenty places in the capital, scooter operators had demanded, in vain, electronic voting, more mobilizing among young people, their first clientele. The three companies (Lime, Tier and Dott) have tried everything to avoid eviction, fearing that it will send a negative signal to medium-sized cities hesitant to allow this service. Including controversial methods, such as offering a free ride on Sunday and using social media influencers to engage their young customer base. "Legally," defended Nicolas Gorse, CEO of Dott, speaking on behalf of the three operators.

The latter warned of the economic consequences of a ban, scooters in Paris accounting for 15% of the turnover of Dott, which employs 800 people in the capital. The mayor of Paris promised Sunday night to be "vigilant" on the social aspect of this eviction.

The 15,000 electric scooters made available in the capital by three private operators are accused by their detractors of being abandoned anywhere in the public space, of brushing pedestrians at full speed on the sidewalks, or of having a poor carbon footprint. These two-wheelers – self-service or not – were involved in 408 accidents in Paris in 2022, in which three people died and 459 were injured, according to authorities.

After welcoming them in 2018, Paris will become the only European capital to completely ban these scooters at the end of the contracts of the three operators, on August 31. "On September 1st, there will be no more self-service scooters in Paris," confirmed Anne Hidalgo by proclaiming the results to the press,

End of the race for self-service scooters in Paris

End of the race for self-service scooters in Paris

A long shot

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