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Day: 31 March 2023

France considers stronger regulations for e-scooters

by: Stephanie Horsman
31/03/2023
e-scooter france

A new proposal from the French government on how to better regulate the use of electric scooters has put safety concerns in the spotlight. 

Electric or e-scooters are in the news a lot these days. On the one hand, they are being touted as an environmentally sound way to get around, a new tool in the clean mobility arsenal to be applauded. On the other, they have been vilified as a dangerous product, a reputation made worse by a growing number of electric scooter related incidents, some fatal.   

Though certain regulations have been implemented, they have been scattered at best, so French Minister for Transport Clément Beaune is now taking matters in hand and presented a national plan for the regulation of electric scooters on 29th March.  

TOO MANY ACCIDENTS 

The number of serious accidents involving users of motorised personal transport equipment (EDPM) went up by 38% between 2021 and 2022, according to government reports, and with more than 2.5 million people regularly opting for e-scooters as transport in France, there are bound to be a few bad apples who don’t follow basic rules of civility and safety.  

Unfortunate incidents are aplenty and last June in Nice, a five-year-old Ukrainian boy was killed on the Promenade des Anglais by a person driving an electric scooter at high speed. 

PREVENTION 

To combat this, the government scheme is taking a three-prong approach. The first objective is to “protect, deter and avoid dangerous behaviour” by increasing the minimum age of drivers to 14 and raising fines from €35 to €135 for riding illegally or in prohibited lanes and spaces.  

The government also wants to build awareness through information collection. To this end, a National Micromobility Observatory will be created, which will produce data on the use of electric scooters in France, their accident rates and their environmental impacts.  

Finally, they will look to self-service e-scooter providers to remind customers that, as users of the roads, they have obligations to be in compliance of the French highway codes and to practice safety when driving.  

 

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Photo source: Vlad B for Unsplash

  

Nice Airport to adopt Skydrop self-service baggage terminals

by: Stephanie Horsman
31/03/2023
skydrop nice

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport will soon implement the Skydrop self-service baggage drop system to enhance and streamline passenger experiences.  

The France-based self-service solution company Easier has announced it will soon be installing do-it-yourself baggage drops at the Nice Côte d’Azur Airport. It is the company’s second collaboration with the travel hub, following the instatement of a series of self-service check-in kiosks.  

Easier is well-established as a leader for its self-service systems, which are widely used in not only airports, but in train terminals and in public institutions, such as post offices and administrative centres.   

Its networks can be found worldwide, in places such as New York’s Newark Airport, Stockholm’s subway system, Casablanca Airport, Santiago de Chile’s underground station and the Paris Montparnasse train station, and are used by an average of 90 million people each day.  

 

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Photo source: Easier

Planes, public transport and schools to be hit by 6th April strike

by: Cassandra Tanti
31/03/2023

France’s unions are planning another round of strikes on Thursday 6th April, with the usual sectors due to bear the brunt.

The country’s eight largest unions are calling for workers to again walk out in sectors including aviation, public transport and schools, denouncing the “lack of response from the government to increasing tensions”.

“The inter-union calls on the millions of workers, young people and retirees to continue to mobilise,” reads a joint statement.

Full details of the Thursday 6th April strike, the 11th of its kind, are not likely to be revealed before Tuesday 4th April.

Ahead of Thursday’s strike, France’s civil aviation authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has asked airlines to cancel scores of flights at French airports on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd April due to strike action by air traffic controllers.

The DGAC also encouraged those with travel plans to consider postponing their journey.

French civil aviation authorities asked airlines to cancel 20 percent of flights operating out of the Toulouse and Bordeaux airports on Saturday.

On Sunday, the DGAC requested that 25 percent of flights at Paris-Orly airport, and 20 percent of flights at the Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes airports, be cancelled.

Travellers should check with their airline to see whether their flight is still scheduled, particularly prior to leaving for the airport.

 

Photo by Monaco Life

 

 

Football: AS Monaco strengthen local ties through Ünseme programme

by: Luke Entwistle
31/03/2023

In the presence of local mayors and amateur sports clubs, AS Monaco launched the Ünseme programme on Wednesday, strengthening ties throughout the region.

Beausoleil, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Cap d’Ail, La Turbie, Èze, Peille and Dolceacqua were the first town halls to become members of the Ünseme, programme, which in Monégasque means “together.”

The mayors of the villages, as well as three amateur sports associations, AS Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, US Cap d’Ail, and US Dolceacqua, gathered at the Stade Louis II on Wednesday for a breakfast. During the visit, they exchanged with the club’s new Director General, Ben Lambrecht, as well as Michel Aubéry, the president of the AS Monaco association. They were also given a tour of the stadium, which offered them an exclusive visit to the Monaco dressing room.

“We’re not alone here in Monaco.”

Speaking to the media for the first time since his arrival in December, Lambrecht voiced his support for the new project, which will intensify the collaboration between the club and the surrounding community.

“We’re not alone here. We’re in Monaco, but there are all the communes around it that form part of AS Monaco’s heritage. So to have good relationships is very important because there are a lot of synergies,” he said. 

The Belgian Director General, who replaced Jean-Emmanuel De Witt, continued, “It’s about creating experiences for these youngsters, be them those that go out on the pitch with the players, or those that are training, or those that are spectators in the stadium. Those are things that we can offer. We’ve learnt that a supporter becomes a supporter of a football team before the age of eight.” 

Indeed, many of the mayors in attendance at the event recounted their childhood memories of watching Les Monégasques, which have stayed with them, making Wednesday’s collaboration a “proud” moment.

“When I think of AS Monaco, I think about my childhood. I have been a supporter since a very young age,” said Xavier Beck, the mayor of Cap d’Ail. The programme will allow the younger generation to create similar memories through different experiences, facilitated by a rapprochement between the club, and its surroundings.

“This initiative will allow us to offer our children, at school and at leisure centres, to access the matches more easily and in the best conditions possible,” he added.

An Italian connection

Beyond the Monégasque border, but also beyond the French border, the Principality club have strengthened ties with their Italian fans. The small Italian village of Dolceacqua, which will become officially partnered with Monaco later this year, is a historical hotbed of Monaco fervour.

“For the past year, we’ve been attending matches at the Louis II regularly with buses filled with around 50 kids going to support AS Monaco. You mustn’t forget as well that the Italian AS Monaco Supporters Club was born in Dolceacqua in the 1970s, so we’re very happy that this initiative will allow us to continue this beautiful story,” said Pasqualino Ricetti, President of US Dolceacqua.

“Such projects only survive when they are part of a bigger strategy.”

Monaco have adopted a strategy of mobilising youth support of late. As well as the Ünseme programme, the club also launched the ‘Kids Tour’ in 2022, which sees the club, and sometimes its players, travel to local towns and villages to provide entertainment and also facilitate journeys to the stadium for the games themselves.

The Munegu Family stand also returned for the current 2022/23 season following its closure during the pandemic, and this has allowed families and young kids to attend Ligue 1 matches at a reasonable price.

“I think that such projects only survive when they are part of a bigger strategy. This programme must form a part of an integral strategy, which it will,” Lambrecht told Monaco Life.

 

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Photo by AS Monaco