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Parisians have overwhelmingly voted to banish the French capital's ubiquitous for-hire electric scooters from their streets.
- City Hall said just over 103,000 people voted, with 89 per cent rejecting e-scooters and just 11 per cent supporting them
- But the voter turnout was low – the poll had been open to Paris' 1.38 million registered voters
- The 15,000 opinion-dividing mini-machines are now expected to vanish from central Paris at the end of August
The 15,000 opinion-dividing mini-machines are now expected to vanish from central Paris at the end of August when the city's contracts with the three operators expire.
The question City Hall asked voters in a citywide mini-referendum on Sunday was: "For or against self-service scooters in Paris?"
The result wasn't close. City Hall said just over 103,000 people voted, with 89 per cent rejecting e-scooters and just 11 per cent supporting them.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo hailed the consultative referendum as a success and said its outcome was "very clear".
"There will no longer be any self-service scooters in Paris from September 1st," she said.
Turnout was very low – the vote had been open to all of Paris' 1.38 million registered voters.
Scattered around Paris, easy to locate and hire with a downloadable app and relatively cheap, the scooters are a hit with tourists who love their speed and the help-yourself freedom they offer.
In the five years since their introduction, following in the wake of shared cars and shared bicycles, for-hire scooters have also built a following among some Parisians who don't want or can't afford their own but like the option to escape the Metro and other public transport.
But many Parisians complain that e-scooters are an eyesore and a traffic menace, and the micro-vehicles have been involved in hundreds of accidents, some fatal.
Ms Hidalgo and some of her deputies campaigned to banish the "free floating" rental flotilla — so called because scooters are picked up and dropped off around town at their renters' whim — on safety, public nuisance and environmental cost-benefit grounds before the capital hosts the Olympic Games next year.
AP