Takeaways from Paris and Los Angeles • TechCrunch

Electric scooters shared scene five years agoIt is a vision that promises to get people out of cars and into more sustainable modes of transportation. althoug billions in venture capital moneyThen there’s the Too much noiseThe future that micro-mobility businesses promise is yet to come.

In cities like Paris, Most people don’t replace car tripsE-scooter journeys can be shared in a meaningful manner. However, the scooters are expensive and not affordable for fair access and last-mile transit connections. General disclosures for birdsThen there’s the HelpiesIt is not easy to achieve profitability. It is also difficult for scooter companies that are allowed to operate sustainably in cities with shared escooter companies.

Traffic flow and carbon emissionsAlternatives to cars must exist. Are shared e-scooters the solution or just a silly option? What has micro-shared mobility brought to cities?

We decided to look at two cities that have been at forefront of the e-scooter revolution. Los AngelesThen there’s the Paris. The former is known for being somewhat free-for all, with a capitalistic regulatory system that allows many traffic operators compete for space and rides. The latter has the strictest regulations in this game, with limited operator permits and is actually considering banning shared escooters altogether.

“From a community perspective, I would be more concerned about e-scooters leaving Los Angeles than Paris,” David Zipper, a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Tubman Center for State and Local Government, told TechCrunch. “Paris is very dense and has a great metro. It is possible that scooters in Paris could replace other modes of transport. Los Angeles is an exception. It’s auto-dominant and craves alternatives to cars.”

Despite their apparent hunger, two scooter drivers – LiftThen there’s the yarn– I recently moved from Los Angeles. I blamed a lack favorable regulations and excessive competitors for making it difficult to turn a profitable business. There are six operators left in LA: Bird, Lime Veo, Superpedestrians, Wheels (now owned and operated by Helbiz) as well as Tuk Tuk, a newcomer.

Both cities are sprawling and dense. One is unregulated (like shared-scooter companies), while the other is highly regulated with fewer operator. This raises a key question. What market, if any, would be suitable?

Paris: Ban or not

Paris is the city that believes that shared escooters will thrive. This city is one the most populated in Europe. Most families don’t have a car. And even if they do, they seldom use it. Anne Hidalgo is the Mayor of Paris. She advocates for reclaiming public spaces from vehicles and roads to make Paris a more livable “15 minute city.” Hidalgo was able to remove parking spaces, transform streets into walkable areas, and open new bike lanes during her tenure.

Paris, however, is in the middle Potentially bans 15,000 shared e-scootersThese include Politicians from several partiesHidalgo’s decision not to renew Lime, Dott, and Tier’s contracts after they expire in February 2023. She is expected to make her decision within the hour. There are already some RumorsLet her know you’re there.

Paris has been a major market for the escooter industry in general. However, the city has been furious at the vehicles, citing it Safety accidentsSome of the It was fatal.

Paris has responded to safety concerns over time with stricter regulations. Last summer, next someone’s deathParis created “slow zones for scooters” after the victim was struck by two women riding a scooter in Paris. A file was published a year later. The entire city turned into a slow zoneWith a speed of just over 6 mph, it is common for e-scooters.

Despite these strict regulations, the city is not ready to let go of shared scooters forever.

I was shocked. shocking. frustrated.These were the feelings I felt when I first heard of the ban. What if there are some accidents? Car accidents happen all of the time! Boohoo for complaining that scooters are blocking sidewalks! You should make bike lanes better!

It is possible, however, that scooters may not provide the value cities require, due to the insufficient statistics on scooter usage in Paris.

TechCrunch was told by Lime that 90% of its Paris fleet is used daily and that a scooter ride begins every four seconds in Paris. More than 1.2million motorcyclists, 85% Parisians, will ride 10 million rides across all three operators by 2021. Lime estimated that it would replace 1.6 million car trips. He may be his.But did they?

One study from 2021It was found that Parisian e-scooter riders are mostly men aged between 18 and 29 with high education. They often use the scooter to save time and travel time. 72% of the riders in the study said that they switched to scooters from walking or public transportation. post scanFrench scooter riders discovered that shared scooters are “more likely” to replace walking trips than other modes.

These findings are not restricted to Paris. A questionnaireIn Norway, five different e-scooter sharing applications were used by customers in the fall 2021. They found that escooters are often more convenient than walking in all weather conditions except night rides. If the escooter is privately owned and goes to places not served by public transport, e-scooters can replace cars with longer trips using the escooter.

What stops us from achieving our ultimate goal, keeping passengers out of cars? Parisians, at least, wouldn’t need a car because it is easy to walk around and the public transportation system is good enough. Maybe potential motorists and taxi drivers need more time to adjust to scooter riding as a way for life. Perhaps scooters aren’t as reliable as other forms of transportation for longer distances.

Fluctuo is an aggregator of data on shared mobility. It found that the average length for a scooter ride in Paris was 2.67km in July 2022, and 2.53km in November. A trip too long to be able to drive it in Paris but not enough to make it worthwhile.

They are popular in Paris regardless of whether scooters can get people out of their cars. Lime, Tier and Dott conducted a September Ipsos poll and found that most Parisians agree e-scooters are a part of their daily commute and fit in with City Hall’s wider transport policy. A majority (68%) of respondents said they are satisfied with the number and quality of self-service electric scooters in Paris. A quarter stated that they would prefer to see more.

A Parisian recently filed a petition in protest of a ban. 19,000 signaturesOpposition

TechCrunch spoke to Hannah Landau who is Lime’s director for communications for France and Southern Europe. She said that Paris would be a far cry from him because of the ban.

She stated that “no major city in the world has ever banned shared e-scooter services.” “In fact, the major global trend today is for cities to renew their programs – such as London – or even expand them with more vehicles or larger service areas (New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Rome, Madrid and Lyon).”

Lime, Dott, and Tier submitted a variety measures to the Paris City Council. They claim that they will address safety concerns and ensure that scooter licences are renewed next year. A joint campaign to raise awareness about traffic laws is one of the proposals. a fine system that uses cameras to record traffic on public roads; expanded use adidas scooterTo prevent sidewalk riding; and to equip motorcycles with registration plates.

Paris is the only major city to have imposed blanket bans. However, other regions have shown an interest in scooter limits, including StockholmAnd the Tenerife, SpainAnd the Boston CollegeThen there’s the Fordham University.

– Rebecca Bilan

Los Angeles: Motor City

On December 29, 2022, a shared scooter was parked in Koreatown, a neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles.

Let’s add a few more wheels to this discussion. Yes, I’m about get personal information about this car. Fasten seat belts!

Automotive companies RewiredAmerican cities during the past centuryAnd, if you ask me, we all suffer for it—especially Angelus. Gas-powered cars and trucks, including SUVs and trucks, are notorious Los Angeles clogged arteries. They Air stainingLeadership Climate changeThen there’s the Health problems Both. PlusI was innocently looking at a nearby ramen restaurant when I was hit once by an SUV driver. It was personal, you see!

All of this is to say, as an occasional driver, grudge-bearing pedestrian, and the kind who breathes, “I’m walking there!” My heart breaks for micro-mobility operators like Lyft, Bolt, Spin, and Bolt in Los Angeles.

It’s not that I ride scooters a lot, nor is it because they are rare. I can find many Limes just a block away from my apartment in downtown LA. linksYou can’t park on sidewalks or in crooked curbs. I simply want to see cars tied up, to rebalance the city around public transit, walking, biking, even going fast—whatever it takes to free up the streets and reduce fumes. What is the future for scooters and the like? Baird’s financial struggles preface?

It all depends on who you ask. Lime, a worker, says that things are better than ever in Tinseltown. A spokesperson recently stated that Lime’s largest US marketplace is Los Angeles.

Although Lime acknowledged Los Angeles’ shortcomings in motorcycling, including its sprawling terrain, the speaker compared 2022 as a “wow moment” that demonstrated how “micromobility will be here to stay.” Lime was kind enough to praise the city’s employees, their work with officials, and its hardware investments for a year that appeared to have been a good one. TechCrunch however, didn’t get a response when I asked if its Los Angeles operations were profitable. Lime is privately owned so we don’t have the same insight as Lyft and Bird.

It might be strange to experience Lyme here in Los Angeles. TechCrunch has heard from Lyft and Spin that they need to make a comeback. “In short: Los Angeles’ challenge is that it’s an open market for sellers with no vehicle cap,” Spin CEO Philip Renkens said in an email to TechCrunch. “This has caused an imbalance in the supply and demand for cars, as operators over-saturate this market.”

Renkins stated, “A long-term arrangement with limited operators would be a prerequisite for consideration of entry.”

Santa Monica, a port town in Los Angeles County, appears to have already taken up this approach. Santa Monica intends to reduce the number scooter operators to four next year. Only one to two.

Zoom out: Greater Los Angeles has a stretch Mixed reputationOfficials have recently shown some willingness to accommodate cyclists. There are several interesting public initiatives, including a recently announced effort that promotes cycling in. South Los AngelesAnd the North Hollywood and San Pedro. It’s not a revolutionary idea, but it could make the city safer for all forms of lightweight transportation, even e-scooters.

Combining the two, the LA scooter is free-for-all seems to be designed for consolidation, leaving fewer operators with it. Lots of ground to cover. However, shared e-scooters don’t seem to be at risk of losing the boot like Paris.

– Harry Weber