The French capital is invaded daily by a veritable swarm of some 15,000 electric scooters, operated by companies like Lime. But despite the fact that more than 1.2 million customers regularly use this type of service, the mayor, Anne Hidalgo, is considering ending the business. According to the city manager, Accidents abound, and constant neglect at the top of gardens, on sidewalks, and even at the bottom of the Seine doesn’t make them as green as one might hope.
In the first eight months of 2022 alone, there were 337 scooter accidents, one 36% increase compared to the same period of the previous year???????? As if this were not enough, there are also deaths that stain this sector, often victimizing touristsprecisely the type of customer that Hidalgo and all Parisian merchants want to keep at all costs.
Aware that battery scooters are very popular in the capital, providing one trip every four secondsThe operators have the renewal of the contract, scheduled for February 2023. But the mayor does not seem inclined to continue with the operation of these small two-wheeled vehicles, promising a decision within the next few weeks.
According to scooter rental companies, Paris already has some of the strictest rules among European capitals., limiting speed to 10 km/h in some areas of the city and preventing users from motoring in parks, further reducing speed. The companies that operate this type of service are developing ways of prevent users from traveling with a passengerthe only thing that has not yet been discovered is a solution to prevent many skateboards from ending up at the bottom of the Seine, which requires teams of divers to be mobilized every month to catch them.
It remains to wait for Anne Hidalgo’s decision, which will surely be analyzed by the other European capitals. The possibility of other mayors of large cities applying the solution advocated by Anne Hidalgo to scooter rentals cannot be ruled out.
Source: Observadora
