DENVER — All over the Mile High, visitors and locals can spot the Veo e-bikes and scooters. Earlier this year, Denver City Council swapped the previous contract with Lime and Bird and approved a three-year contract with Veo.
Viewers wrote in to Denver7 to express their frustrations including a scooter blocking a front gate and another claiming the scooters are "constantly left at the entrance of my apartment building, at both the front and back door and probably worst of all, they're still being driven on sidewalks."
▶️ Denver7's Maggy Wolanske spoke with residents and officials about Veo scooter and e-bike concerns
For the past 26 years, Kammy Alford has called the City Park West neighborhood and enjoys the area. Recently, a Veo scooter was left blocking her front gate and since she is recovering from a broken back, she could not move it.
"I was shocked, I was stunned. Why would somebody do that?" Alford said.
She called Veo to explain the situation and was told "they would bump it up the ladder and put a priority on it." Ultimately, it was a kind neighbor who ended up helping move the scooter so her gate could be opened.
"I would tell the company, you need to listen. When people call you and tell you this is a huge problem and get somebody out there to fix it," Alford said.
Denver City Councilman Chris Hinds has spent years working to make the streets safer with legislation passed this year banning scooters on sidewalks. He noted the concerns with this new vendor is not new to Denver.
"I'm hearing it is as if the previous vendors never left. The same concerns about sidewalk riding, same concerns about scooter litter everywhere and and I'm sad as the as the sponsor of the ordinance that I thought would help clean up our sidewalks," Hinds said.
So far, Hinds said they have heard over 100 complaints from people in District 10 with people even writing in every day. With the new ordinance in effect, he is hoping the company will take responsibility for what is happening.
"We've had five years of the previous contract that had no legislation and so part of the challenge of the reason why it's been going on for more than five years is we didn't really have anything to hold them accountable, to hold them, as in the scooter vendors accountable and now we do," said Hinds. "So that's a big difference, is that we now have a way to hold people accountable."
Hinds says he is pushing for answers and exploring what options are available.
"One of the things we can do is we can ask the city attorney's office is the scooter vendor — because we only have one now — is the scooter vendor complying with the law," said Hinds. "I think that's a reasonable question. It takes time for us to see behavior of the new vendor. It also takes time for us to to look at the contract and the legislation to say this behavior of the new vendor is not in compliance with the law or the contract."
Denver7 reached out to Veo for comment regarding the concerns of community members. The company said in the statement that riders detected riding on sidewalks will receive "educational warnings, with additional enforcement measures available for repeat violations as the program expands" beginning Aug. 10.
Sidewalk safety is a priority for Veo. As of May 1, every Veo vehicle operating in Denver has been equipped with GPS and additional onboard sensors that enable sidewalk riding detection, consistent with Council Bill No. 25-0599. Verbal warnings and geofences were activated on July 1, and we continue refining the system in coordination with DOTI to improve accuracy and expand enforcement responsibly.
Beginning August 10, riders detected riding on sidewalks will begin receiving direct educational warnings, with additional enforcement measures available for repeat violations as the program expands.
Per the legislation, Veo and DOTI are expanding the mandatory parking zones and are actively planning to install additional parking corrals. Veo is working with DOTI and communities to identify and implement over 150 new mandatory parking corrals as required by Denver's new program rules. Veo is working towards Mandatory Parking Zone compliance in the broader Union Station neighborhood by December 31, 2026 and Central Business District and Five Points neighborhoods by July 1, 2027.
Residents can report improperly parked Veo vehicles through the Veo app or by contacting Veo Customer Support by email (hello@veroride.com) or phone (1-855-836-2256). Riders who improperly park vehicles may receive warnings, fines, or other account actions based on the frequency and severity of violations.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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