An awesome majority of Parisians who took half in a referendum on electrical scooters have voted to ban the units from the streets of the French capital, reflecting exhaustion with a public-transit different that was as soon as seen as handy and climate-friendly however is now largely considered harmful and environmentally questionable.
Comparatively few folks turned out on Sunday for the referendum — solely about 100,000 Parisians voted, lower than 7.5 % of these eligible — however those who did forged a poll left little doubt about what they needed: Nearly 89 percent backed the ban.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, a member of the Socialist Occasion, led the marketing campaign in opposition to the rental scooters, describing them as a “nuisance” within the capital.
Though the referendum, described as a “public session,” was nonbinding, Ms. Hidalgo — who 5 years in the past had backed the unfold of the scooters to chop site visitors — stated that she was “dedicated to respecting the outcomes of the vote.”
With the operators’ contracts expiring on the finish of August, beginning on Sept. 1, Ms. Hidalgo stated, “there shall be no extra self-service scooters in Paris.”
The choice may have implications for different cities, reminiscent of Rome, San Francisco and Stockholm, that originally embraced the electrical scooters however have now begun tightening rules.
Paris is without doubt one of the largest markets for rental scooters on the earth, recording about 20 million journeys in 2022. However in the identical 12 months, the nationwide street security division, Sécurité Routière, stated that 34 people had died and 570 others had been severely injured in France whereas using an electrical scooter or comparable mobility system.
The French Nationwide Academy of Drugs additionally weighed in, saying that it thought of the electrical rental scooters a “main well being downside.”
Ms. Hidalgo has appeared for tactics to scale back congestion and deal with local weather change, however even if the scooters run on electrically charged batteries, their environmental worth got here beneath scrutiny.
The three firms that run the scooter rental applications pointed to a city-sponsored research that discovered the units helped scale back air pollution in Paris, however that very same research additionally famous that many individuals would have traveled utilizing one other methodology with a low carbon footprint.
Metropolis Corridor hailed a “victory for native democracy,” however opposition events, together with President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance, and the three scooter rental firms denounced what they referred to as a one-sided vote.
They had been essential that on-line voting — uncommon in France — had not been allowed, arguing that its absence discouraged the participation of youthful voters who had been probably to make use of the scooters. In addition they complained that the geographic boundaries of who may vote, excluding individuals who dwell within the suburbs however spend time within the capital, had been too restrictive.
The scooter operators — the San Francisco-based firm Lime, the Dutch start-up Dott, and the German start-up Tier — tried numerous tacks in campaigning in opposition to a ban. That was partly as a result of they feared a vote to ban the units would ship a adverse sign to different cities that originally embraced the scooters however are actually more and more contemplating whether or not the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
Earlier than the vote, the businesses working in Paris organized a advertising marketing campaign based mostly on social-media influencers within the metropolis, and it provided free rides on the day of the referendum to attempt to mobilize younger voters, their core buyer base.
Between them, the three firms, which rent out their units by way of smartphone apps and have operated in Paris since 2018, have a complete of about 15,000 scooters zipping across the capital.
