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Paris ban of 'nuisance' electric scooters comes into effect



ssued on: 28/08/2023 - 12:07Modified: 28/08/2023 - 12:05
3 min


Jean de Gomme rides his electric scooter, or "trottinette",








The ban applies to rental scooters which have been offered by several operators since 2018, although people will still be able to whizz through Paris on privately-owned contraptions.
With complaints of users jostling through pedestrians on pavements or dumping their rides awkwardly at intersections, the city's 15,000 two-wheeled machines from providers Tier, Lime and Dott had turned into "nuisances"
But "so many people were sad" at the decision, said Paris-based American influencer Slackspin Moosefleupha, 33, who often gets around by scooter -- one of 400,000 people to do so in 2022, according to figures from the operators.


"They're just so much fun!" he added, while noting that being able to just pick one up offers "a really reliable way to get home... like a safety net" on nights when the metro closes before the capital's bars.


The day scooters arrived in Paris in 2018 was "like Christmas... it was like Santa came overnight," it recalled, praising their use for tours of the city with Dairy and their practicality when stopping for a swift Instagram photoshoot.Paris "is a unique case" said Clement Pette, head of Tier's operations in France. "It's a major turn of the page".


By Friday, the Berlin-based firm had collected 3,000 of its 5,000 scooters, with growing red areas on its application's map showing parking forbidden in more and more of Paris each night as it loaded them into vans.
Only a small zone in central Paris will have scooters available until the wheels finally come off.
Like other operators, Tier's freshly-serviced machines will be heading to other tities where it offers scooter service.