Following last year’s introduction of its dockless shared bikes, VeoRide is considering the release of its scooters to the University campus.

The dockless e-scooters are will be operated on a changeable battery pack to enable 24-hour accessibility and prevent fire risks from unsupervised charging in apartments and dorms.

Linda Jackson, director of communications at VeoRide, said although the company does not have immediate plans to introduce their new scooters to the Champaign-Urbana area, they hope to do so in the future.

“We do not have immediate plans to do that, but we are obviously interested in serving our customers wherever we have bikes already,” Jackson said.

The scooters will be released to other college campuses in the next few weeks and will operate on the same phone application used for the bikes. While the price of use by minute is yet to be confirmed, the fee to unlock the scooters will be the same as the bikes at $1.

With issues of inappropriately parked VeoRide bikes around campus, Jackson said the company will work with the campuses and communities to find the best locations to leave the vehicles after use.

“Every market is different as far as how they want the scooters to be parked,” Jackson said. “But generally we would put them near a bike rack or create a parking zone where they could be parked at the end of the ride.”

Lindsey Kim, senior in AHS, said the scooters will be practical if used correctly.

“I feel like they’re the same as bikes. They can be dangerous, but it’s just a matter of how you protect yourself by wearing helmets, or being careful or looking out for cars or other pedestrians,” Kim said.

Eman Ghanayem, sixth-year graduate student in LAS, said she doesn’t think the scooters will be popular on campus.

“I don’t see people using scooters that much on campus, so I don’t know to what extent it’s going to be successful,” Ghanayen said. “I’ve also noticed that less people are using the bikes, so I don’t know if people are just losing interest in them or what.”

Ghanayem also said the safety of the scooters could be an issue for students.

“I’ve always assumed that riding scooters is not that safe, especially in this weather, too, and on campus, so I feel like there will be some accidents,” Ghanayen said.

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