摘要: |
Following an April 2 referendum vote, Paris, France, will banish shared battery-powered scooters from its city streets starting Sept. 1, 2023. In a city where there are 1.38 million registered voters, slightly more than 103,000 cast ballots and more than 91,000 of those favored an e-scooter ban. There is a lot to unpack here, not least of which is a decision impacting one of the world's largest cities was made by 7.4 percent of its voters. Poor voter turnout aside, the larger question is what this ban could mean for micromo-bility in other urban areas. The story of Paris and e-scooter rentals is one that seems to be firmly set on a learning curve. E-scooter rental companies have been operating in Paris since 2018, and the city restricted licenses in 2020 to three vendors after the number of scooters grew to 20,000. The city also pushed for operators to institute speed restrictions around areas with heavy pedestrian traffic, implemented a fine on users who did not park e-scooters in designated places and banned e-scooters from city parks. |