Lime and Dott electrical scooters are parked on the pavement on March 29, 2023 in Paris, France.
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Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo pledged to ban rented e-scooters from the French cash right after a huge bulk of residents backed the shift.
In a non-binding referendum held on Sunday, 89.03% of 103,084 votes solid reported they had been opposed to the freestanding scooters, which are booked on a limited-phrase foundation via applications, from the metropolis. There were being only two choices, “for” or “in opposition to.”
“Their quite very clear concept now results in being our roadmap,” Hidalgo mentioned in a assertion adhering to the vote, afterwards declaring in a information meeting that the scooters would be gone from Sept. 1, when existing agreements with operators expire.
E-scooters introduced in Paris in 2018, but in 2020 the selection of firms with working licenses was slash to just three: Lime, Dott and Tier.
It also added conditions this sort of as a 20 kilometer for each hour speed restrict and selected scooter parking parts. Shoppers who depart scooters outside these regions deal with a wonderful.
Critics of the scooters say they muddle up pavements and roads, but also raise protection considerations. There had been 459 incidents involving e-scooters or similar motor vehicles in Paris last year, which include a few fatalities, according to a Reuters report.
Towns all over the globe have been debating how to regulate or prohibit both equally rented and owned e-scooters, which are common with travellers and some commuters but regarded a nuisance by many locals.
In London, rental scooters are operating on a demo foundation until eventually the drop this 12 months, also with Lime, Dott and Tier. Right after that, “operators will be selected on their skill to satisfy strict security necessities and superior working benchmarks,” in accordance to nearby authorities.
Berlin-centered Tier Mobility said it was “dissatisfied” with the Paris referendum outcome.
“With close to 93% of citizens not going to the polls, a significant bulk of Parisians have revealed that e-scooters are not an situation,” the business claimed in a assertion supplied to CNBC.
“Going away from shared e-scooters also usually means that Paris is isolating by itself from the rest of the globe with important capitals like Washington, Madrid, Rome, London, Berlin or Vienna that are all employing policies supporting e-scooters as means to lessen unwanted car or truck usage.”
It added that it remained available to perform with authorities on a regulatory framework all around e-scooters.
Dott and Lime did not right away react to CNBC requests for remark.