How the e-scooter ban has changed mobility in Paris

Six months on from its landmark vote to ban shared e-scooters, Cities Today spoke with Paris’ Shared Mobility Manager, Natalia Ciciarello, about the impact the decision has had and how the city is now dealing with a cycling boom.  

At the end of August 2023, just five years after it became one of the first cities in Europe to open up to free floating shared e-scooters, Paris held a referendum which put an end to the scooter service.

During their peak, 15,000 shared e-scooters had roamed the streets but poor parking, user behaviour and concerns over safety prompted complaints.

This escalated in 2020 when the city introduced some of the strictest regulations in the world, limiting the number of operators and automatically capping speeds at 20 kmph.

The measures were not enough however, and in April 2023 the city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, decided to hold a referendum giving residents a simple yes/no choice around the future of shared e-scooters.

Ninety percent voted in favour of a ban but with a turnout of just 7.5 percent.

Safety

While safety fears had been cited as a reason to ban e-scooters, it was more the perception of danger that influenced this, according to Natalia Ciciarello, Shared Mobility Manager, City of Paris.

“Statistically, there were not many accidents because of these [shared] e-scooters, but we had a lot of people say to the city that there was a feeling of insecurity around how they were being used, and this was quite important.”

Private e-scooters are still allowed in the French capital, with many using the devices on a daily basis for leisure or commuting but Ciciarello noted there were differences between those who had used the shared scooters and those who own one.

“There’s a group in France – Fédération pour le Professionnel de la Micromobilité – which has done lots of studies on people who own their own micromobility vehicle, and they found this demographic was very different to those who used shared e-scooters.

“For shared e-scooters, it was mostly males between 30-35 years old, but people who bought their own were older and used them for longer trips, and not in place of walking or public transport.

“When people buy e-scooters they have to take out insurance to be able to use them, so it makes them more responsible.

“But also there was the issue around health – cities need to promote active mobility, and if you can do the same trip on a regular bike, why should you promote and give so much space for a shared e-scooter?”

Following the decision to ban the shared e-scooters, the three operators Lime, Dott and Tier released a joint statement criticising “restrictive voting methods” saying it was a “step back” for sustainable transport ahead of the 2024 Olympics.

“I don’t think the city has suffered that much because they do not exist any longer,” added Ciciarello.

“We haven’t done any studies since [the ban] but what you see when you just go out in the city is more use of shared bikes, especially among tourists, who previously would be using e-scooters.”

Bike Boom

Since her election in 2014, the city’s mayor Anne Hidalgo has championed the transformation of Paris streets from a car-centric model to one that prioritises pedestrians and cyclists.

This is being implemented through a €250 million (US$271 million) investment which aims to make the city entirely bikeable by 2026 .

“Today we’re seeing a boom in terms of the bike, it’s really incredible,” added Ciciarello.

“The [bike] infrastructure that has been done is not even enough in some places in order to meet the demand for cycling space during peak hours.”

As part of the Plan Velo: Act 2 scheme, over 30,000 parking stands will be created with an additional 1,000 spaces reserved for cargo bikes.

There will also be 40,000 new secure cycle parking spaces near rail stations with the expectation that the private sector will install a further 50,000.

Cyclists in the French capital now have more than 1,000 kilometres of bike paths and marked routes up from 200 kilometres in 2001.

With the Olympic Games less than five months away, and questions as to whether public transport can cope with the influx of visitors, the city’s bike network will help keep Paris moving.

According to the city’s bikeshare service Vélib’ Métropole, a 60-kilometre network of cycle paths will connect all of the competition sites and routes will be equipped with dedicated signage and coloured markings.

“The city wants every trip [during the Olympics] to be done either by active mobility or by public transportation, so I think this year should be the most active, most accessible and environmentally friendly for mobility,” added Ciciarello.

Image: nella-n-unsplash