Paris Bans Rental Electric Scooters

Paris has made its choice. Voting to ban electric scooters from the city with over 90% of those who voted electing for a ban.

On the other hand, it is important to note that this is not a ban on privately owned electric scooters but rather shared/rental e-scooters that are commonplace in most major cities. However, this vote may not have gotten the real answer as less than 8% of the population registered to vote actually participated in this decision.

On the other hand, Paris has made a multitude of changes in recent years to decrease dependence on cars while boosting the use of micro-mobility as well as public transportation. The changes have been working. In 10 years , 2012-2022, there was a 33% drop in traffic according to Paris city hall. The city has also seen an uptick of nearly 30% in "motorized personal transport devices" involved in accidents. That includes e-scooters, as well as gyropods, motorized skateboards and similar forms of micro-mobility. 

Cities across the EU have been testing e-scooters for years. Barcelona has partially banned e-scooters in historic parts of the city since 2016. London is doing the exact opposite of Paris at the moment, making private electric scooters illegal on public roads but have been testing shared e-scooters since 2021.