Paris Votes to Ban E-Scooter Rental Companies

PARIS—People in the French capital have voted to ban electric-scooter rental services from its streets in a hotly debated referendum, a dark signal for an urban transportation market that the city helped pioneer.

Electric-scooter rentals lost in a landslide, with between 86% and 92% of people who participated voting against the services, according to preliminary district tallies released by the city.

Paris officials have said that in the event of an “against” vote, the three companies that pay for contracts to operate in Paris, including the U.S.-based company Lime, would have to yank their fleet of a combined 15,000 e-scooters in the city by Sept. 1.

If the city follows through, it would mark the first time that a major city that had offered contracts for e-scooter rentals in the center of town has made a complete U-turn on its policy, the companies said. It is a blow to scooter companies such as Lime, which had pointed to Paris as an example of how their services could be effectively regulated.

Paris’s regulatory scheme, which automatically limited the top speed of the scooters and required users to use dedicated parking areas or pay fines, has inspired elements of new tender offers or expansions of systems in cities including New York, London and Madrid, said the companies that currently operate in Paris. They also include the Franco-Dutch company Dott and Germany’s Tier Mobility.

The companies didn’t immediately comment on the outcome of the vote.

Sydney’s nightlife has long flirted with reinvention, but its latest arrival suggests something more deliberate is taking shape beneath the surface.

Razz Room, the new underground bar and disco from Odd Culture Group, has opened in the CBD, marking the group’s first step into the city centre.

Tucked below street level on York Street, the venue blends cocktail culture with a shifting, late-night rhythm that moves from after-work drinks to full dancefloor immersion.

The space itself is designed to evolve over the course of an evening. An upper bar offers a more intimate setting, suited to early drinks and conversation, while a sunken dancefloor anchors the venue’s later hours, with a rotating program of DJs and live performances.

“Razz Room will really change shape throughout a single evening,” says Odd Culture Group CEO Rebecca Lines.

“Earlier, it’s geared towards post-work drinks with a happy hour, substantial food offering, and music at a level where you can still talk.”

As the night progresses, that tone shifts.

“As the evening progresses at Razz Room, you can expect the music to get a little louder and the focus will shift to live performance with recurring residencies and DJs that flow from disco to house, funk, and jazz,” Rebecca says.

The concept draws heavily on New York’s underground club scene before disco became mainstream, referencing venues such as The Mudd Club and Paradise Garage. But the intention is not nostalgia.

“The space told us what it wanted to be,” Lines explains. “Disco started as a counter culture… Razz Room is no nostalgia project, it’s a reimagining of the next era of the discotheque.”

Design, too, plays its part in shaping the experience. The upper level is warm and textural, with timber finishes and burnt-orange tones, while the sunken floor shifts into a more theatrical mood, combining Art Deco references with a raw, industrial edge.

Paris Votes to Ban E-Scooter Rental Companies

Vote hits companies such as Lime, which had pointed to Paris to show how scooter services could be regulated

Odd Culture Group brings a new kind of after-dark energy to the CBD, where daiquiris, disco and design collide beneath the city streets.