Starting September 1, it will be impossible to rent electric scooters in Paris, RTBF TV channel reported on Sunday.
According to the channel, the city hall does not intend to renew contracts with three private operators who have deployed a fleet of these vehicles in Paris, which will become the first European capital to ban the service of providing electric scooters to the public.
Providers of this service must remove the scooters from the streets of Paris by the end of August.
This decision is based on the results of a city referendum on the use of electric scooters. More than 100 thousand Parisians took part in the vote. The ban was supported by 89% of those who took part in the referendum on April 2.
The reason for this vote was the problems caused by scooters scattered randomly throughout the city, but especially the concern for the safety of their users.
The RTBF notes the criticism of this referendum by the companies concerned, who primarily point to the low turnout of 7.46%. “The turnout could have been more active and representative if the voting methods had been different: more polling stations, electronic voting, municipal information,” the three private operators wrote in a joint communiqué.
In 2022, about 400 thousand trips on electric scooters were recorded in Paris, the TV channel reported.
