It's official. Electric scooter rental services are now banned in Paris, and the three major operators – Lime, Dott, and Tier – have officially pulled their scooters out of the city. Electric scooter rentals have been under fire in Paris for quite some time now, as more and more citizens complained about issues pertaining to safety, intoxicated riding, and parking.
The three companies were granted operating licenses back in 2020, however, the rising number of complaints forced the local government to take action. City Mayor Anne Hidalgo ultimately put the decision on the hands of Parisians by having them vote for a decision. A whopping 90 percent of voters were in favor of the ban, and so it was decided that all electric scooter rentals would cease by the end of August, 2023.
According to a recent report by Forbes, in total, there were more than 15,000 electric scooters deployed within France's capital city, and the three major operators took different approaches when it came to clearing them up. Dott was the quickest to act, starting clearing operations as early as mid-July and closing down on August 21. Lime followed suit, withdrawing all of its scooters through August, while Tier reportedly waited until the last two weeks so as to maximize the time it had left in Paris.
Now, the question remains: what will happen to Dott, Lime, and Tier, and what will happen to the 15,000 electric scooters – a lot of which were still in good condition – that once roamed the French capital? Well, for starters, Dott, Lime, and Tier will continue to operate in Paris, but no longer offer e-scooter rentals. Instead, they'll shift their focus to e-bike rentals – something that the country has a much more favorable outlook towards. After all, Paris has invested heavily in cycling infrastructure over the past few years.
As for the electric scooters, well, chances are they'll be reassigned to other parts of France where e-scooter sharing is still permitted, as highlighted by a story from French publication Le Repaire des Motards. More specifically, Lime could deploy its excess scooters in the Ile de France region, while Lime could send its fleet to Lille. Of course, the movement of these scooters to other European countries is also a possibility.
