IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SCOOTER SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATE:
- Will City Council Vote to Approve the New Scooter Contract?
- Advantages of Engaging Veo
- A Closer Look at Veo’s Denver Fleet
- Veo’s Website: surveys, resident discounts, and more
- Our Next Meeting
DENVER CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL? The proposed contract with scooter provider Veo Inc. passed out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at their April 15th meeting, which means that it should be considered for approval at the City Council’s meeting on April 27th. The Committee discussed the contract at two prior meetings, and after receiving additional details they had requested, elected to move the contract along to the full City Council for consideration. UpDoNA has expressed its support for the new contract to the Committee and is hopeful that the new contract is approved this month by City Council.
ADVANTAGES OF ENGAGING VEO. At one such Committee meeting, Nathan Pope of Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI), offered a presentation which explained why Veo was preferred as Denver’s new provider of micromobility (scooter) devices. Check out one of those slides below and read the entire presentation HERE. It’s a very thorough overview of the process DOTI undertook these past couple of years, along with the reasons that Veo ranked higher than all other contenders.
During discussions with DOTI and local Veo representatives who attended UpDoNA’s Scooter Subcommittee meeting, we learned some of the reasons why Veo outperformed its competitors in the City’s selection process. Regarding one of Downtown Denver’s most persistent problems – scooters being driven on our sidewalks – let’s take a look at what Veo offers:
- Signage on the parking corrals where riders initiate their trip, stating that driving on sidewalks is prohibited;
- A ‘welcome video’ on the Veo phone app that includes the no-sidewalk-riding message;
- Signage on the vehicles themselves;
- “Sidewalk Detection Technology” that detects unexpected changes in the riding surface and uses LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) to identify locations of objects more typically found on sidewalks than streets (e.g., planters, benches, people); and
- If sidewalk riding is detected, a vocal warning is heard by the rider. Veo representatives say that they’ve seen much more compliance by riders since introducing those “Veo Voice” announcements.
Those locations where Veo detects unusually large numbers of violations will be reported to the City so that potential solutions can be identified. Those would include restricting scooter speeds (“go-slow” zones) and the development of new bike lanes. Similar data will be provided by Veo to assist the City in identifying where parking corrals would alleviate illegal scooter parking (and “scooter litter” on the sidewalks). There will be multiple ways to report illegally-parked scooters, including:
- Denver’s 311 phone app (the preferred way);
- A Veo phone number printed on each vehicle; and
- A QR Code printed on each vehicle which directs to a web-based reporting page.
A CLOSER LOOK AT VEO’S DENVER FLEET. Veo has been operating in the micromobility market for nearly a decade and provides millions of bike and scooter rides annually in over 50 cities. Veo currently employs 35 W-2 employees in Denver with a plan to employ at least 150 more. Veo offers the unique advantage of designing and manufacturing its own vehicles. Their fleet is extensive and includes both stand-up scooters and sit-down vehicles.
The sit-down vehicles are considered to be safer for riders and are involved in 40% fewer reported accidents than their stand-up counterparts. Here in Denver, we can expect to see more and more sit-down vehicles as Veo’s local fleet will consist of only 30% traditional stand-up scooters. Sit-down vehicles are also more popular with riders who are over the age of 25. Veo believes that the sit-down vehicles are more likely to be driven in the bike lanes, instead of on the sidewalks (fingers crossed), because they’re intuitively more akin to a bike than a traditional scooter.
VEO’S WEBSITE: SURVEYS, RESIDENT DISCOUNTS, AND MORE. Veo has already launched a Denver-specific website that you can access HERE in order to:
- Complete an online survey and have your voice heard;
- Register for discounts available to every Denver resident;
- Sign-up for Veo Denver newsletter updates; and
- Enroll in the free-ride program available to income-qualified residents.
If you’d like to speak directly to representatives of the City and Veo, consider attending our next meeting.
UPCOMING MEETING. For a deeper dive, you can review the Meeting Minutes from the Subcommittee’s most recent meeting HERE. The next meeting of UpDoNA’s Scooter Subcommittee is tentatively scheduled for June 2, 2026, 3:00pm—4:30pm at Olive & Finch on 14th Street at the DCPA. This meeting may be preempted by the UpDoNA Annual Meeting. Check the UpDoNA website for updates. Reach out to David Kurth if you want to be added to the mailing list. David_Kurth@msn.com.
Thumbnail attribution: David Kurth
