Paris is positioning itself as a pioneer in new mobility, leading the way on innovative concepts such as electric car-sharing and e-bikes. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has enthusiastically embraced the concept of the 15-minute city, the idea that residents can access all the services they need within their immediate vicinity. Micromobility plays a key role in realising this vision, but recent developments suggest there are considerable obstacles yet to overcome.
In early April 2023, the city held a public referendum on whether or not to ban rental e-scooters. Lime, Tier, and Dott all have permits to operate free-floating schemes where users can rent scooters by the minute. In total there are about 15,000 shared scooters on offer. But not for much longer. Parisians voted overwhelmingly (89%) in favour of not renewing the permits for these operators. However, voter turnout was low at just 7%, and clearly not representative of the wider population.
“This raises the question, why weren’t more people in favour of e-scooters not motivated enough to take part in the vote?” notes Roger Woodman, Assistant Professor (Human Factors) at the University of Warwick. Kersten Heineke, a Partner at McKinsey and the consultancy’s resident micromobility expert, voices a similar view, noting: “The vote shows that there is a certain group of people vividly opposed to scooters, and they have made themselves heard. But scooter operators and supporters were not able to motivate the hundreds and thousands of scooter users to vote in this case, which is a bit of a sad thing.”
Regardless, Mayor Hidalgo will follow through with the vote and allow all existing rental contracts to expire as of 1 September 2023.
