NASHUA – E-scooters have been zipping around the city since June 27.

The popular travel option from VeoRide has certainly seen a successful integration into the company’s environment-friendly mobility program, which is aimed at helping residents and visitors to Nashua move in an enjoyable and economical manner.

“The scooters have added a fun, environmentally friendly, cost and time-effective way to move around the Nashua geofence,” Nashua Fleet Coordinator Ezra Richardson said through email.

“They have also turned Nashua into a multi-modal market, which we feel creates more value for our customers,” he added.

Residents have really taken to the VeoRide e-scooters, the second mobility option the company unveiled in the city, via a pilot program that began three months ago. While the pedal bikes, which have been available since June 2018, still have a presence in the city, the scooters have seemed to be the preferred option since their introduction.

Since their debut, the scooters have seen approximately 13,000 rides by residents, which according to officials for the company, aligns with the usage numbers for the VeoRide bikes during their first three months in Nashua.

“The scooters in Nashua have been received very well. The demand is high and we hope to increase the number of scooters soon,” Richardson said. “Comparably, the ridership is very similar.”

With the amount of rides taken compared to the bikes seeing similar numbers, Richardson said ridership for the scooters is much higher due to the fact that when the pedal bikes were introduced, the company introduced of 220 units. This compares to only 60 scooters that were integrated into the company’s Nashua program.

That makes ridership about 215 rides per unit for the scooters during the pilot, compared to about 60 rides per unit for the bikes during the course of their first three months.

The introduction of the scooters has contributed to noticeably fewer bikes being available. With the company only permitted to have 200 units active throughout the city, Richardson said VeoRide had to make room for the scooters.

“We knew leading up that the pedal bikes were getting less ridership at the time of the scooter launch,” Richardson said.

As the mobility program grows, Richardson said the company’s goal is to continue to provide people making their way through Nashua with reliable, cost-efficient options that can contribute to a growing sense of self.

“VeoRide’s program ultimately provides choice,” Richardson said. “We contribute to the greater well-being of the city of Nashua by working hard to make sure our vehicles are available and reliable. This, in turn, gets people out of single occupancy vehicles and decongests roadways.”

Mathew Plamondon can be reached at 594-1244, or mplamondon@nashuatelegraph.com, @telegraph_MatP.

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