DENVER — Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, Denver's City Council Transportation Committee meeting Wednesday was packed with community members ready to share their voices about the city's new proposed scooter and bike rental operator. Following public comment and questions, a decision was made to postpone the vote on the new contract.
"You had an entire committee room that was looking at an overflow room, and that — for me and I think any council member — speaks to the importance of this topic and more specifically, the impact of this project on people's everyday life," Shontel M. Lewis, city councilwoman - District 8, said.
For the past five years, Bird and Lime have held license agreements in the city, but those are set to expire in May. In December, Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure selected Veo as the sole shared scooter and bike operator, meaning Lime and Bird will be out.
Some of those who spoke at the meeting said they worried the change would leave those who rely on the current companies and their programs behind, while others said they were glad to see the city making the switch.
Zach Williams, Lime's regional head of government relations, said Lime has thousands of vehicles spread across the city. Many of Lime's riders, he said, are low-income riders who rely on Lime as their primary form of transportation.
"We've got a significant low-income program here in Denver. There is really no parallel for the size and scope of this program in our industry at-large across the country, and so what we're here to talk to city council about today is making sure that we're being really thoughtful about a transition period that protects those low-income riders," Williams said.
A major concern Williams sees is the transition period between contracts, believing that two to three weeks is not enough time for riders to adjust to the new company. Instead, he hoped the city council committee would adjust to a 12- to 18-month timeline.
"We're not trying to relitigate the process that's been unfolded," said Williams. "We're just trying to ask everyone for some thoughtfulness and caution to make sure we protect something that's critical."
Since its founding in 2017, Veo has grown to more than 60 markets across the country. Vice President of Policy and Partnerships Alex Keating says the company has experience in the biggest markets in the country and has done "extensive amounts of community outreach" to best serve the Mile High.
"One of the major focuses of this is using all five months of this transition period to ensure that folks who currently ride with Lime or Bird understand what's happening, and particularly folks who use the low income pricing plans, which is typical to access pricing, know how to transition so they don't lose any service or benefit," Keating said. "Studying ridership patterns throughout the city, understanding how to make sure our deployment meets need from day one, doesn't reduce any level of service across the city."
According to Keating, Veo plans to have vehicles on Denver streets by May and with plans to charge $1 to unlock plus 25 cents per minute.
DOTI's Alaina McWhorter and Nathan Pope presented the new license agreement to the transportation committee. They said the three-year deal would strengthen safety requirements and expand affordable mobility options for low-income Denver residents.
"We're really excited with the selected operator Veo," said Pope, saying he believed having Veo as the sole operator "is really going to maximize value for Denver."
"Cheaper prices, more ways to ride, flexible equity programs and increased accountability is all what this contract delivers, and we're excited to have Veo in town," he said.
Ultimately, the committee decided to postpone the decision to April 1. Members of the transportation committee asked for a copy of the contract before making this informed vote.
"We want to make sure we have the information that's necessary and that we don't have to rush when we know how large of an impact or burden the wrong decision could be on communities," said Lewis. "So, it's a big deal, because I think we understand the benefits and burdens, and we really focused on the burdens that could potentially be for communities and operated in that understanding."
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