Cityscoot is a service of 3,700 self-service electric scooters, in Paris and in around fifteen towns in the inner suburbs.
They can be unlocked with a simple smartphone and rented from € 0.24 per minute (€ 0.34 for occasional use).
Four and a half years after the launch of this service, between 10,000 and 20,000 Parisians and suburbanites use it every day, even if the particular year of 2020 has reduced activity by 10 to 15% compared to 2019 .
According to the founding CEO of Cityscoot, Bertrand Fleurose, the return to growth is hoped for in June.
And, also proof of the success of the formula, a strong competitor, Lime (a subsidiary of Uber), which already rents scooters and bicycles in Paris, will in turn offer self-service electric scooters in the spring.
However, Cityscoot considers itself a little neglected in the Parisian transport landscape.
The French start-up therefore opportunely commissioned a study from Cerema, a research institute attached to the Ministry of Ecological Transition, in order to demonstrate the usefulness of shared electric scooters for clean mobility in the capital.
No fine particles or noise pollution
For Cityscoot, the results of this study are timely, in the midst of a debate on the future of motorized two-wheelers, on the reuse of parking spaces and on the reduction of the place of the car in Paris.
Because the Cerema affirms it: the use of Cityscoot makes it possible to approach certain objectives aimed by the City of Paris and the State, "in particular environmental sobriety and in terms of nuisances, as well as the modesty of the public space occupied by its vehicles ”.
A shared electric scooter is used six times more than a normal scooter.
It therefore occupies less space in public space, it hardly emits fine particles, nitrogen dioxide, CO2, or noise pollution.
Ways to "make the service more attractive"
It is therefore necessary, according to Cerema, to "make the service more attractive from the point of view of public policies" thanks to certain measures to be tested, such as the opening to shared scooters of bus lanes when possible, a parking fee. differentiated from thermal scooters, or study a more incentive pricing service, such as tax reduction or mobility package including public transport.
Conclusions which of course delight Bertrand Fleurose.
“This confirms what has long been suspected: the shared electric scooter is actually very virtuous in a city where the inhabitants have chosen to drive scooters for decades.
It is clean, takes up less space, does not make noise.
It has a full place in the city, alongside other forms of mobility that are also very virtuous.
We must not oppose mobilities between them.
"
"We would like to take back the place we deserve"
In the viewfinder of the CEO of Cityscoot, the bicycle and its kilometers of cycle paths.
“The shared electric scooter is a bit set aside compared to the bicycle, Judge Bertrand Fleurose.
We are in the shadows, while we too are helping to reduce the space of the car.
When someone gives us the message that we cannot drive on rue de Rivoli, or during the day without a car, it is absolute nonsense.
We would like to take back the place we deserve.
"
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The Cerema study thus reveals that the Cityscoot user often makes longer journeys than that of an average scooter user, that he is used more in addition to public transport (20% of users), and that 'in this sense it is an alternative to the car.
Bertrand Fleurose therefore pleads for incentives to use his service.
The occupation of public space under debate
Regarding parking first of all.
“Currently, an individual thermal scooter pays nothing, while Cityscoot's electric and shared scooters pay an occupancy fee in Paris (€ 200,000 in 2020).
It's the world upside down!
indicates Bertrand Fleurose.
We hope it will be reversed.
"An evolution on track since the town hall of Paris and some neighboring cities are studying the possibility of paying parking for motorcycles and scooters.
Another strong demand: the opening of bus lanes to electric scooters.
A decree makes this possible, it remains for the City of Paris to take the decision to authorize it.
“Insofar as lanes reserved for clean vehicles are being studied on the motorways or the periphery, why not do it in inner Paris as well?
»We plead at Cityscoot.