Scooter Rentals in Paris: The City Hall Takes a New Jab at Free-Flow Services

Will the measures taken by scooter operators on free-floating services be enough to convince the municipality? Clearly, the fight is far from over.

A few weeks ago, the Paris city hall announced that it was considering banning electric scooters on a free-floating basis. The three operators present in the capital immediately responded by taking a number of measures. Following this, license plates appeared on Tier, Dott, and Lime scooters. Another announced measure already in effect: identity verification at registration to ensure that the user is of legal age.

Despite this show of good will, the fate of free-floating scooters in Paris still seems uncertain. David Belliard, the deputy mayor in charge of mobility, reiterated on Twitter, sharing a study highlighting the number of accidents involving these devices in Lyon.

David Belliard, leading figure among anti-free-floating-scooter advocates in Paris

It was David Belliard who first sounded the alarm back in September. “With Emmanuel Grégoire (Premier deputy mayor of Paris in charge of urban planning, Ed.), we have met with free-floating scooter operators because the situation is not sustainable: scooters parked anywhere, uncertainty over environmental impact, accidents, unappealing modal shift, non-compliance with traffic laws,” he wrote on Twitter.

Since then, opponents and supporters of free-floating scooters have been vying to make their arguments heard. The former complain about the nuisances they cause, while the latter emphasize their usefulness and the popularity they enjoy among Parisians.

The contract between the operators and the Paris city hall runs until February 2023. The decision on what steps to take next will therefore be made in the coming weeks.

Also read: Lorient: electric scooter rentals, first in Brittany