The three rental e-scooter operators in Paris have come together with their most ambitious set of proposals yet to secure the future of the vehicles in the French capital.
Dott, Lime and Tier presented eleven measures at a press conference in Paris to “enhance safety, integration into public space and sustainability” that would make the city the most rigorously regulated in the world.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is currently considering whether to renew the three operators licences as some politicians have cited concerns around public safety on the city’s sidewalks and the sharing of public space.
Following a request for proposals by Paris City Hall on September 29 on how to better integrate the machines, the e-scooter companies put forward a package of four new safety measures on October 10th.
Now the operators have gone one step further with eleven measures, two of which are now in place.
“We have decided to immediately and proactively implement two of the most impactful measures we proposed to Paris in early October: rider ID verification and licence plates on all our e-scooters,” Tier’s Director of Public Policy for Western Europe, Erwann Le Page, told Zag Daily on behalf of the operators.
“This will help reduce unsociable riding and accidents, whilst also responding to safety concerns coming from non-users. We are confident that these strong measures will contribute to helping Anne Hidalgo make the right choice to maintain the leadership Paris has on the global scene when it comes to the fight against pollution and respecting the Paris Agreement.”
Other measures include banning offenders who repeatedly violate the highway code, funding an experiment using camera technology to detect violations and running education campaigns to encourage responsible use.
Micromobility observatory
One of the proposed measures is to create a ‘micromobility observatory’ to produce independent data on users and accidents to be shared with city authorities.
Julien Chamussy, CEO of Paris-based mobility data platform Fluctuo, who was present at the press conference, told Zag that the company can assist with the observatory.
“Fluctuo, as a mobility enabler, has been providing this service to operators and cities alike in an unofficial capacity, and we would be happy to discuss the possibility of taking on this responsibility in an official capacity,” he said.
The data platform Vianova has also expressed interest. “This is definitely something Vianova would be happy to help with: supporting 100 cities and mobility providers across the world, Vianova helps them accelerate the development of urban mobility and provide access to different forms of micromobility, whilst simultaneously making the streets safer, and greener, thanks to a centralised solution,” Vianova’s Co-Founder and COO Thibaud Febvre told Zag.
Together, the bold package of measures would put Paris at the forefront of micromobility regulations globally and could also serve as a blueprint for other cities.
“We have listened to the requests from the City of Paris and believe that we have provided robust and effective responses. These have been shared with the Paris City Hall and we are waiting on a response,” said Dott CEO Henri Moissinac, Lime CEO Wayne Ting and Tier CEO Lawrence Leuschner in a joint statement.
“We have no doubt that Paris will maintain its leadership in the fight against pollution and the promotion of sustainable transport.”
