Veo e-bikes in Syracuse face 2024 deadline amid criticism

Amid safety and operations concerns, the future of electric bikes and scooters in Syracuse is unclear. Syracuse’s Common Council voted last month to extend the city’s contract with VeoRide, the company that operates the bike-share devices, only to the end of 2024, despite Mayor Ben Walsh’s recommendation for a three-year extension.

The city of Syracuse initially began its contract with Veo in 2021 in an effort to fill the transportation gap for city residents without cars. 

“Syracuse’s growing fleet isn’t just a fun way to get around the city, it’s filling a critical transportation gap,” Walsh said in a press release.

Veo has several safety regulations for its devices, such as speed maximums and age restrictions, but some argue these are not enough. For District 1 Councilman Marty Nave, safety hazards like potential collisions with cars outweigh Veo’s usefulness. 

“It’s not a toy,” Nave said. “It’s a dangerous weapon, and if you don’t handle this precisely and correctly, it can be fatal.”

According to Veo’s 2023 rider survey report, 99.99% of Veo trips are completed without incidents nationally. Nave said he is skeptical of this statistic because of unsafe riding — weaving through traffic and going the wrong way down the street—and the one known fatality in Syracuse. 

In December 2023, a man riding a Veo e-bike died when he collided with a Syracuse Police Department vehicle.

Conversations about rider safety are not unique to Syracuse. A study published in September by the American Journal of Public Health concluded that between 2019 and 2022, the rate of injuries for e-bikes increased by 293% and 88% for powered scooters nationwide.

Kathryn Burford, one of the study’s authors, said that because the data only includes situations severe enough to involve emergency department discharges, injuries could be even more prevalent.

“This issue is greater than what our study is showing,” Burford said. “This is likely an underestimate of actually what’s going on.”

Burford explained that the uptick in injuries coincides with a surge in usage across the country, but gathering data has been difficult. She said that until recently, hospitals did not have a way to categorize e-bikes and scooters as separate from traditional bicycles when reporting injuries.

Coinciding with the national increase in usage, the Syracuse Veo program has grown significantly since its inception in 2021. Syracuse’s Veo fleet started with under 200 devices and has grown to include around 1,000 e-bikes and scooters in the last three years. 

Firas Al Attar, who lives in Syracuse, uses Veo devices weekly to travel downtown for events or to eat at restaurants. It is normally a 25-minute walk from his apartment on James Street to downtown, but with Veo, he can arrive in just six minutes. 

Attar believes the Veo program is beneficial to the community because of its convenience and fair price. Veo electric vehicles cost $1 to unlock and between $0.25 and $0.31 per minute to ride, depending on the type of vehicle.

Even as a regular user, Attar said he feels safe riding a Veo just over half the time because of the cars around him and the high speeds the vehicles can reach on hills. 

Beyond these questions of rider safety, Nave said he is also concerned about the inconvenience to people in the community. Nave and his constituents have regularly seen Veo devices blocking sidewalks, streets and driveways as well as interfering with traffic by not following the rules of the road.

“As a counselor, I have yet to hear one good thing about Veo bikes,” Nave said. “All I hear from constituents is they are a nuisance.”

Burford and her co-authors are actively investigating how to make urban environments safer for pedestrians and other road users as micromobility device usage continues to grow. The group believes enhanced infrastructure, such as protected bike lanes, is the most efficient and equitable way to create a safe experience for riders and others.

If Veo bikes go away, Nave said people in Syracuse can easily reach their destinations by walking, taking the bus or using rideshares. 

Attar, however, said he would likely stop making trips downtown without Veo as a choice.

“It’s either my car or walking, and the car, if you want to go to downtown, is hard to park. Veo is the best option here,” Attar said. “I might not go anymore, I don’t think there is an alternative for me.”

Before they move forward with another contract extension, Nave said he wants all of the councilors’ concerns and questions about Veo addressed. 

“We’ve got to make them safer,” Nave said. “If the city says we can’t afford more safer bikes, they [have to] drop the program.”