Staff photo by Damien Fisher Mayor Jim Donchess talks about the VeoRide program coming to Nashua. The company will deploy 200 bikes to the city next month.

NASHUA- A bike sharing company is bringing 200 smart bikes to Nashua next month as the city looks to make it easier for people move around downtown.

“We’re trying to make the city more pedestrian and bike friendly, and I think this is a good step toward that,” said Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess.

VeoRide will launch on June 2, with 200 specially made bicycles that are unlocked via a smartphone app, said Candice Xie, vice president for business development at VeoRide. Customers use the VeoRide app on their phone to locate and reserve a bike, unlock it via a QR code on their phone, and ride the bike anywhere within Nashua. When done riding the bike, the customer can leave the bike on the sidewalk.

Xie said VeoRide staffers will analyze data on where to deploy the bikes, and may bring in more in August. The rental for the bikes is 50 cents for every 15 minutes, and the app to access the bike system is free.

Donchess said the system of ride sharing without a central docking station where the bikes must be returned seems to make sense for Nashua. Sarah Marchant, Nashua community development director, said VeoRide will work in conjunction with city’s public transportation system.

“We hope to deploy bikes were we have high (public transportation) ridership,” she said.

Nashau’s Transportation Planner Julie Chizmas said she’s working with the Department of Public Works to get more bike lanes striped out on roads to create bike trails leading downtown.

VeoRide comes with no cost to Nashua taxpayers. The company already is active in Illinois and Indiana, Xie said.

Damien Fisher can be reached at 594-1245 or dfisher@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DF.