Electric bikes set ablaze as French protests turn violent in Paris
During Saturday's nationwide protests, dozens of shared e-bikes were torched in Paris, with additional damage reported in Bordeaux and Lyon.
The weekend protests that swept France escalated into vandalism of shared electric bicycles in several cities. Dott disclosed that roughly 300 of its e-bikes were destroyed and another 120 severely damaged in Paris, part of a fleet of 6,000 vehicles. Lime confirmed that about 6% of its Paris inventory of bikes and scooters was lost, after having pre-emptively moved vehicles away from protest routes.
Velib, which operates docked e-bikes, reported that around 5% of its 18,000-bike fleet suffered destruction or damage. In Bordeaux, 80 shared vehicles were destroyed, and Lyon saw 30-40 scooters burned. The companies collectively estimate the financial impact at roughly €400,000, while the fires produced toxic smoke due to lithium-ion batteries.
Why it matters
The damage highlights how civil unrest can disrupt urban mobility services and impose costly losses on shared-transport operators.
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