Leading European cities for e-scooter ridership in 2023

In 2023, the European cities with the highest number of shared e-scooter rides included the German cities Berlin and Hamburg and the Belgian capital, Brussels. Berlin was the European leader in e-scooter ridership, with 17.5 million trips recorded that year. Brussels and Hamburg followed with 12 million trips each. 

The end of e-scooters in Paris

While Paris had 32 electric scooters per 10,000 inhabitants in 2022, these disappear from Parisian streets at the end of August in 2023. In April 2023, Paris held a referendum on the continuation of e-scooter sharing in the city, in which over 90 percent of voters expressed their opposition to the vehicles. Despite a relatively low turnout, the city announced that it would follow the referendum's outcome and ban e-scooter schemes from city streets from September 2023. This ban applies to shared e-scooter schemes, while private e-scooters remain legal. The free-floating scooters had been criticized for littering and blocking pavements, and their safety for riders had been questioned. 

Uncertain future for e-scooters

Paris is not the only city experiencing a backlash to e-scooters. Other cities, including Copenhagen, Barcelona, and Riga, have already temporarily banned or significantly restricted e-scooters. Meanwhile, the vehicles are still in the trial stage in the United Kingdom, where private e-scooters remain illegal so far, and only a few cities have shared e-scooter schemes that will be up for review. While there is public criticism of e-scooters in Germany, micro-mobility vehicles make up a large proportion of the share vehicle fleet in the country, and the market is projected to grow further in the coming years.