Paris, Europe's Electric Scooter Capital?

E-scooter brand Lime, pictured in Paris - @mahdihouli

In summer 2018, Europe saw a new trend in micro-mobility with the introduction of electronic scooters. Brands like Lime and Bird were initially received with much enthusiasm in cities such as Madrid or Berlin, but most of all in Paris.

The product is well-aligned with French efforts to de-carbonize mobility and responding to Parisian needs to find alternative methods of transport due to its extremely saturated public transportation as a result of the city's 2.2 million inhabitants.

Leading brands Lime and Bird shared how, in their initial 6 months in Paris, the former claimed more than 2 million trips and 315,000 users and the latter estimated more than 110,000 people used their service.

These brands, and newcomers, are flocking to Paris thanks to Mayor Anne Hidalgo's transport policies and her multiple approaches to encourage soft-mobility (walking, biking, scooters, etc.) in the French capital.

Adrien Lelievre explores this topic further in his Les Echos article: "Comment Paris est devenue la capitale mondiale de la trottinette électrique", translated by World Crunch as "How Paris Became The World's Electric Scooter Capital".

World Crunch article: "How Paris Became The World's Electric Scooter Capital"