Invited to speak on self-service scooters, Parisians voted almost 90% against this Sunday, April 2, during a ballot marked by very low participation: less than 8% of registered voters.
” The scooter vote is unquestionably a democratic success “, applauded this Sunday afternoon on Twitter the deputy mayor of Paris, Patrick Bloche, in commentary to a photo showing a huge queue in front of the town hall of the 11th arrondissement. Finally, out of 1.3 million Parisian voters invited to express their views on the future of these self-service scooters, only around 100,000 turned out. That is a participation rate of less than 8%.
” The Parisians have shown their deep disinterest in the vote (…) organized by Anne Hidalgo “, mocked the municipal right in a press release. Paris adviser Pierre-Yves Bournazel (Horizons) for his part denounced “ lack of commitment from the municipal executive for this consultation.
It prevents. If the Parisians were few to go to the polls, the choice of those who did is final. To the question “For or against self-service electric scooters in Paris”, the opponent won with 89% of the vote. This marks the end of these scooters in the capital, the mayor Anne Hidalgo having undertaken to respect the result of this consultative referendum, whatever it is. She herself campaigned for the “no” vote, pointing out that eliminating these scooters would reduce “ nuisances on the asphalt and sidewalks of the capital.
All for all
Deploring that the ballot is only organized in about twenty places in the capital, the scooter operators had unsuccessfully demanded electronic voting, which is more mobilizing among young people, their first clientele. The three companies (Lime, Tier and Dott) tried everything to avoid the eviction, fearing that it would send a negative signal to mid-sized cities reluctant to authorize this service. Including with controversial methods, such as the offer of a free race on Sunday and the use of influencers on social networks to mobilize their young clientele. ” 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 weighing 15% of the turnover of Dott, which employs 800 people in the capital. The mayor of Paris promised Sunday evening 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 past pedestrians on the sidewalks at full speed, or of presenting a poor carbon balance. 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 therefore become the only European capital to completely ban these scooters at the end of the contracts of the three operators, on August 31st. “ On September 1, there will be no more self-service scooters in Paris “, confirmed Anne Hidalgo by proclaiming the results in front of the press,
(And with AFP)