Health precautions oblige, David Belliard, new deputy mayor of Paris in charge of mobility, has chosen to reveal in the open air the result of the call for tenders for self-service scooters. He therefore held a quick press conference on Thursday afternoon in a square just in front of the Town Hall. The three lucky winners are the Lime, Tier and Dott brands which will therefore be the only ones, for two years, to be able to operate free-floating scooters.
“This new organization will come into effect in mid-September,” says David Belliard. Operators already active in the capital who have not been selected (Bird, BlaBlaRide operated by VOI ...) therefore have all summer to remove their machines.
Groups that have obtained this precious license will have to respect very strict specifications. First, everyone will not be able to operate more than 5,000 scooters in the capital. Yesterday Tier had 480, Dott 2,200 and Lime 4,900. In total, there will therefore be no more than 15,000 scooters in circulation in Paris. And, if they want to extend their service to neighboring municipalities (Issy les Moulineaux, Montreuil, Courbevoie ...), they will have to negotiate with each of its municipalities.
Another obligation is that passengers must return the vehicles to the car parks provided for this purpose by the Paris City Hall. “2,500 sites each comprising 6 spaces are planned,” explains David Belliard. Already, 2,200 are usable. Moreover, operators have planned to impose fines on violators. An easy system to set up because the brands have the means to geolocate the machines.
Lime, Tier and Dott also had to make social and environmental commitments. For example, there is no longer any question of resorting to “juicers”, these self-employed entrepreneurs paid a pittance. “There have been unacceptable practices of certain brands which employed undocumented migrants with ridiculous remuneration,” emphasizes David Belliard. This is one of the reasons, along with the anarchic occupation of public space, which led us to set up regulation on this market. ”
Expected in the spring, the results of the call for tenders are only communicated now because of the health crisis which has postponed the date of the second round of municipal elections. "It was complicated to give the result of a call for tenders during the campaign and then there was the installation of the new team", explains David Belliard.
This result does not come as a huge surprise. As expected, the mayor of Paris has selected an American giant (Lime), a European leader (Tier) and a French actor (Dott). For them, this is a huge victory: Paris is the world capital of micro-mobility where there are the most scooter trips. When they respond to other calls for tenders, they will be able to boast of this reference. It will also be useful to them if they need to raise money or calm shareholders made nervous by the pandemic. The world leader, Lime, who initially wanted to be profitable in 2020 has postponed this goal to 2021.
Because, for the moment, no operator of shared scooters is profitable. In short, they are burning funds that they have raised. Conversely, the big losers are the American Bird and the French BlaBlaRide operated by the Swedish VOI who were not selected and had founded much hope in the very prestigious market that is Paris. To a lesser degree, Estonian Bolt and little Frenchman Pony who were outsiders in this tender may be disappointed.
