With the end of the academic year fast approaching, the Veo bike and scooter share introduced this year has seen a mix of reviews.
The collaboration between Associated Students of Oregon State University and Transportation Services launched August 2024.
Found all around the OSU campus, these blue and black scooters and bikes have become a normal fixture in Corvallis.
Sara Hamilton, an outreach coordinator for the OSU transportation department, shared the success for this Veo pilot project as the minute usage exceeds one million minutes as of April.
With a goal that Hamilton explained in an email to be “a meaningful transportation option for the campus community,” this program has seen expansions all around the Corvallis area, reaching up to the apartments in the Witham Hill and Domain area.
“By increasing the service area, we can make shared bikes and scooters a viable way for students, employees and visitors to get to campus and visit local businesses,” Hamilton said in an email.
However, with what Hamilton described to be an outpour of support from the Corvallis community looking to expand this environmentally friendly transportation option, there were also the negative impacts to acknowledge, with a fair share of concerned community members to rival the positive reviews.
Addressing the negative aspects of the Veo bikes and scooters Amelia Luna, a Corvallis Community Center employee, said, “It’s fun to ride (the electric scooters) but I feel like I hear more complaints about them. They block the sidewalk a lot and people don’t really use them responsibly.”
Luna isn’t the only one who shared this concern of space and proper usage of the Veo option in Corvallis, this sentiment had been echoed on Corvallis online forums, such as Reddit, with community members upset over bikes and scooters left in the walkway.
Acknowledging these concerns, Hamilton said, “Other residents contacted Transportation Services with questions and concerns about improperly parked scooters and unsafe riding behavior.”
While this issue seems to be a communal concern, Hamilton also stated that these complaints have become less prevalent with riders becoming more used to the luxury of this program, and using it properly.
Luna agreed with Hamilton’s comments and said that while they still “annoy” her, “the parking is a lot better than when they first rolled out” which Luna attributed to the novelty of these scooters and bikes wearing off, leading to people using them “more intentionally.”
Any new project and resource is guaranteed to have kinks in operation details, but Hamilton also made sure to stress the highlights of this service.
One of these Veo perks includes discounts for riders receiving SNAP benefits, Pell Grants or Medicaid — making this service free or at a discounted rate daily with the Veo Access Program.
With rides ranging in price for riders not using federal discount benefits, the price still remains generally affordable according to student Elliott Kruse, an avid user of these bikes both for recreational and functional purposes.
Kruse acknowledged that while the rules for these Veo options could be made more widely known to riders, these scooters and bikes “are practical for getting around and relatively cheap, which is nice.”
The unclear rules that Kruse is referring to pertain to primarily safety concerns. The rules most reported and broken for these scooters and bikes are: helmet usage, the use of one rider per vehicle, riding sober and following traffic regulations at a speed of 15 mph or under.
One thing that Luna, Kruse and Hamilton all seemed to agree upon was the emphasis on improper riding etiquette and usage over the program itself.
“The benefit of beginning with a pilot and increasing the service area intentionally is that the project team is able to identify and address pain points,” Hamilton said about the possible problem areas of Veo usage in Corvallis.
Hamilton notes the positive aspects of having a sustainable option to get around campus and town, with parking being more accessible, and public transportation being less crowded since the Veo scooters and bikes have been unveiled.
As the pilot program wraps its first academic year, the future of Veo in Corvallis appears promising but contingent on continued adjustments and community cooperation.
