A new electric scooter company is coming to Bloomington this spring, bringing the number of two-wheeled micro-transit vendors to three.
City of Bloomington spokesperson Yael Ksander confirmed Friday that the city has entered into an agreement with Chicago-based bike and e-scooter company VeoRide.
Ksander says VeoRide will bring its scooters to town sometime this spring, which will likely coincide with existing scooter companies Bird and Lime taking their respective fleets out of winter “hibernation.”
She says the new agreement supports the city’s efforts to reduce vehicle traffic, especially between the Indiana University campus and downtown areas.
“Practically any means of conveyance, including maybe the back of an elephant, would be faster than going that way by car," she says.
Bird scooters appeared practically overnight in 2018 when they were dropped off en masse on campus and throughout the city.
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Since then, the city council has approved rules governing the use and storage of electric scooters, including mandated “dismount zones” in downtown Bloomington.
Two Purdue University grads founded VeoRide as a way to improve university campus transit using pay-per-ride, single-occupancy scooters.
