Parisians massively vote to banish for-hire escooters

A public hire electric scooter, operated by Lime Technologies AB, parked by the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, on March 31, 2023. Residents decided in a referendum on Sunday to oust shared electric scooters from the city. — Bloomberg

PARIS: Parisians have overwhelmingly voted to banish the French capital’s ubiquitous for-hire electric scooters from their streets.

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.