The Paris ban on e-scooters: a victory for local democracy and for the future of the Paris motorized transport system, according to the Mayor

Rental scooters will not be available in Paris on September 1. The Mayor of Paris said the victory was a victory for local democracy.

The contracts of the operators for the mini-machines in Paris are set to expire at the end of August.

Scattered around Paris, easy to locate and hire with a downloadable app and relatively cheap, the scooters are a hit with tourists who love their speed and the help-yourself freedom they offer.

The “free floating” rental flotilla, so called because scooters are picked up and dropped off around town at their renters’ discretion, must be stopped by the capital because of the public nuisance and environmental cost-benefit.

Only 7.41% of registered voters cast their votes in one of the 203 polling stations that opened for the occasion.

The ban will go into effect at the end of August. Private owners of e-scooters won’t be affected.

The result is for the 800 employees of Dott in Paris. Then it’s also for the residents since, mathematically speaking, if we subtract the scooters, it’s more saturation in public transport and more individual vehicles,” Nicolas Gorse, chief business officer of scooter operator Dott, told RMC radio on Monday morning.

According to the city hall, traffic on Paris roads dropped by more than 30 percent in the last twelve months.

Paris police do not collect figures for injuries and deaths caused specifically by e-scooters. However, between 2021 and 2022, the number of crashes involving “motorized personal transport devices” – which includes e-scooters, gyropods and motorized skateboards – rose by nearly a third, to 516 accidents, resulting in three deaths, police said.