People ride electric scooters by Lime sharing service, on the eve of a public vote on whether or not to ban rental electric scooters, in Paris, France, April 1, 2023. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
PARIS 鈥� Paris will ban electric scooters from September 1, the French capital鈥檚 mayor said, after the public voted to remove them from the streets, however e-scooter operators said on Monday they hoped to stop the plan.
The e-scooter ban won 89% of the votes according to the city hall Twitter account in what was billed as a rare 鈥減ublic consultation鈥� that prompted long queues at ballot boxes around the city. However turnout in the referendum was low at 7.46% of registered voters.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo said she would respect the vote.
鈥淔rom September 1, there will be no more electric scooters for rent in Paris,鈥� she told a news conference late on Sunday.
Scooter operators pointed to the low voter turnout and said they hoped Hidalgo would seek a compromise.
鈥淲e remain hopeful that we can continue to work with Mayor Hidalgo to adopt sensible regulations instead of a ban on e-scooters, and avoid a step backward for Paris,鈥� a spokesperson for Lime said on Monday.
A spokesman for Dott said the referendum was 鈥渉eavily impacted by very restrictive voting methods鈥� which led to an extremely low turnout heavily skewed towards older age groups.
French Transport Minister Clement Beaune, seen as a possible contender for the mayor鈥檚 post in 2026, said on BFM television the vote was 鈥渁 massive democratic flop鈥�.
Electric scooters accessed through smartphone apps have operated in Paris since 2018, but following complaints about their anarchic deployment, Paris in 2020 cut the number of operators to three.
It gave them a three-year contract, required that scooters鈥� speeds be capped at 20 km/hour and imposed designated scooter parking areas, similar to restrictions being imposed in other cities worldwide. The current contracts run until September.
Operators had offered further regulations, including checking users were over 18, fixing licence plates so police could identify traffic offenders and limiting to one passenger.
In 2021, 24 people died in scooter-related accidents in France, including one in Paris. Last year, Paris registered 459 accidents with e-scooters and similar vehicles, including three fatal ones.
鈥淚n my work, we see a lot of road accidents caused by scooters, so we really see the negative effects,鈥� general physician Audrey Cordier, 38, told Reuters after voting against the scooters.
Some voters said they would prefer tighter regulations than an outright ban.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want scooters to do whatever they want on pavements, but banning them is not the priority,鈥� Pierre Waeckerle, 35, said.