The fight to be an official provider of electric scooters in Paris is driving firms to dredge discarded vehicles from the River Seine, run apologetic ad campaigns, redesign their models and reshape their workforces.

Key findings

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This fall (2019), Paris plans to award operating licenses to no more than three scooter companies and ban the rest.

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For scooter companies, the fear of expulsion from Paris is outweighing the cost of hiring employees to collect the vehicles. The French capital’s compact layout makes it more cost-effective to deploy staff to distribute and maintain the scooters, which appeal to tourists scooting between landmarks and to commuters who don’t drive to work.

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Uber Technologies Inc.-owned Jump, a scooter and bicycle provider, says 73% of users are locals. Lime says it has garnered more than a million riders since it launched in Paris last year. In 2018, individual riders logged more miles in Paris than any other city where Lime operates, according to the company

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