VeoRide Dockless Bike Updates

Well, first off, some of them are going to be electric now. From the Daily Illini:

VeoRide introduces electric bikes to campus
VeoRide announced its plans to replace 150 of its 500 bicycles in Champaign-Urbana with electric models after students return from spring break.

This arrives after Champaign City Council members decided to renew the dockless bike sharing program for another year.

Bruce Knight, planning and development director for Champaign, said VeoRide reported nearly 165,000 rides have been taken within the community as of Feb. 5, making Champaign-Urbana the top performing VeoRide market nationally. 

Linda Jackson, media representative for VeoRide, said the 150 bicycles will arrive in March.

“VeoRide aims to serve a variety of customers, and some prefer e-bikes because it’s easier to pedal longer distances,” Jackson said. “The front-drive motor can assist e-bike riders to pedal up to 18 miles per hour and responsively adjust torque to match riding conditions.”

Jackson said the battery itself is a rechargeable unit that can be replaced on the spot. When a battery needs replacing, technicians will go to the bike and swap out the battery. Each battery will last up to 68 miles.

More at that article here. The News-Gazette had coverage of the Champaign City Council study session meeting referenced which highlighted some of the various arguments and concerns raised:

Champaign council set to renew bike-share program; electric versions on way
Perceived by the city council as a success overall, the dockless-bike-sharing program will be renewed this year, officials decided in a study session Tuesday...

But other officials brought up many issues associated with the bikes. Often, they're left in less-than-desirable places, council members said, and that could impede access in the city for people with disabilities.

There's also the fact that some bikes are left in the same places for days, weeks or even months...

A more controversial point among council members was whether to keep VeoRide as the sole bike-sharing company in the area.

Council members Matt Gladney, Tom Bruno, Brix and Mayor Deb Feinen all staunchly opposed having a sole provider.

More at the full article here with various takes on adding competition and whether bikes in the same places are due to regular use. Urbana followed suit this week:

Urbana council feels similarly to Champaign on bike-sharing program
Aldermen spent less time than their counterparts in Champaign discussing the renewal of an intergovernmental agreement for the dockless-bike-share program, but they seemed just as favorable to limiting increases in the number of bikes available and the number of companies allowed to operate...

Champaign last month signaled that it was willing to increase the number of bikes a "reasonable amount" to 700, and will weigh the pros and cons of keeping VeoRide as the sole provider. On Monday, Urbana aldermen also advocated for a "modest increase" up to 750 bikes, with Alderman Eric Jakobsson saying he was happy keeping VeoRide as the sole provider for some time.

Full article here. The company has also been pitching electric scooters they've introduced in other markets:

Electric slide: VeoRide set to bring out new bikes, with scooters a possibility
...
The company recently announced it has designed an electric scooter with a swappable battery that would soon be available in Texas, Alabama and Tennessee.

"We would love to bring them," said Ben Thomas, VeoRide's general manager of the Champaign-Urbana fleet. "We're in the process of talking about what that would actually look like."

Ben LeRoy, associate planner for the city of Champaign, said the scooter issue will be introduced at Tuesday's council study session about renewing the bikes.

"We're basically asking council, 'Are you interested in hearing a future study session on scooters?'" LeRoy said. "If so, we would prepare that after we finalize renewal. It'd be sometime after July 1."

That full article is here. That possibility remains down the road and is not part of the current amendments being considered. From the Urbana City Council Committee of the Whole meeting agenda yesterday:

Although the topic of e-scooters has been raised among various community members, it is  not a part  of  proposed  amendments  to  the  [intergovernmental agreement]  at  this  time.  Staff  anticipates  conducting  additional  research and bringing information regarding that topic to the Committee and BPAC in the future.

On scooter speed, I keep coming across VeoRide's assurance it will set maximum speed to a community's wishes. Their electric bicycles top out at 18mph according to the News-Gazette article. This recent Vox article on rental scooters including VeoRide's appeared to assume a max speed of 15 mph. The News-Gazette had an article earlier last month had a bit more of the local speculation and general background on VeoRide scooters as well here.


St. Joseph's Village Board was apparently not too thrilled with the idea of allowing them in their town. From today's News-Gazette:

Officials from VeoRide were scheduled to present to the St. Joseph Village Board in February.

The licensed dockless bike share operator asked to have its presentation removed from the agenda, but that didn’t stop village trustees from discussing the issue...

Village officials say VeoRide was interested in its turquoise-colored bikes — of which about 500 are currently in the Champaign-Urbana area — being used on the Kickapoo Rail Trail that passes through St. Joseph...

Some of the biggest complaints with the program come from users leaving the bikes wherever they want, a concern St. Joseph Trustee Roy McCarty also shared.

McCarty said he routinely goes into C-U and sees bikes in people’s yards and in the middle of sidewalks.

 “I wouldn’t like it,” he said.

Added Gherna: “The same bikes are in the same spots on campus for weeks on end. In theory, it is a great idea, but in practice, it is done horribly, and they are all over the place.”

Sounds familiar. The company managed to get folks in C-U to see past that annoyance, so maybe they'll change some minds?