Marseille brings together electric scooter operators

Like Paris, the city of Marseille is concerned about the improper use of electric scooters, and is questioning their future within the Phocaean City.

Scooters keep appearing and resemble each other. Whether in Paris, Marseille, or in other major cities where scooter operators are established, the situation is the same, with misuse of the equipment provided to users.

Taking Paris as an example, the figures are revealing. The number of accidents involving “EMDs” increased by 28.3% in 2022. Authorities recorded 408 incidents, compared to 318 the previous year and 294 in 2020. The human toll includes 459 injuries and 3 deaths!

Who hasn’t encountered two riders on a single electric scooter, when only one passenger is allowed? Not to mention the users who disregard traffic laws, cross certain sidewalks, and have no protection in case of an accident. While some improvements have been made, like the addition of position lights, reflectors, and a horn since summer 2020… wearing a helmet, which remains only recommended, is very rare.

In Marseille, another issue is particularly alarming: poor geolocation accuracy. Whether due to malfunctioning GPS chips or network problems, many devices are poorly, or even very poorly, parked. This increases the risk of causing pedestrians to fall. According to the city of Marseille, the use of “illegal” maps for renting free-floating EMDs makes it impossible to impose financial penalties for improper parking. Finally, Marseille has no quota requirements to limit the number of electric scooters per operator. This results in an excessive number of units available, which primarily allows users to always find a scooter model nearby.

A last-chance meeting?

All these reasons prompted the Marseille City Hall to summon all current EMD operators in the second-largest city in France today, Monday, February 13. Last month, Audrey Gatian, deputy mayor responsible for mobility, told BFM Marseille Provence that she had issued a warning: “If operators fail to regulate their fleets and provide a decent service in Marseille, of course, we are prepared to shut everything down. We are ready to stop everything if we sense no improvement.”

Read also: Lyon keeps electric scooters in shared service… but under conditions!