Paris and shared micromobility: learning from experience
When, a few years ago, some companies started providing electric scooters to rent in cities around the world, initially there was absolute chaos. In the absence of regulations, riders weaved in and out of pedestrians on sidewalks, then abandoned their vehicles without concern for other people. Others were dumped in rivers or canals, stolen, vandalized…
The authorities in Paris reacted quickly, introducing regulations clarifying where and how scooters should circulate, limiting their maximum speed, imposing fines on those who broke the rules, and above all, reduced the number of companies operating the vehicles to just three, Dott, Lime and Tier, which were required to make a strong commitment to the sustainability of their activity. Faced with the emergence of a new micro-mobility scheme in the urban ecosystem, aware of its consequences, potential problems and possible ways to address them was essential and required communication between operators and City Hall.
After these measures, and vandalism now much reduced, and with each of the companies limited to operating a maximum of five thousand scooters in the city for which they had to pay, the mayor launched a revolution aimed at ridding Paris of cars: kilometers of lanes dedicated to micromobility, streets and entire areas closed to cars, speed limits of 30kmh throughout…
