Veo’s new Fair Haven rental spots, on display on Tuesday. Veo Operations Manager Rakeeda King: “We see so much ridership.” Mayor Justin Elicker and city Transportation, Traffic Parking Director Haley Simpson rolled up to a Fair Haven intersection on seated, rent-by-the-minute e-scooter s — before leading a press conference all about the expansion of that “micromobility” program beyond downtown. Elicker and Simpson joined Fair Haven Alder Frank Redente, city Climate Sustainability Director Steve Winter, and Veo Operations Manager Rakeeda King, among others, at that Tuesday morning presser at the corner of Exchange Street and James Street. They were there in part to celebrate all of the rides that have been taken over the past year on the city-backed Veo e-scooter system. According to Elicker, since May 2025, there have been over 172,000 rides taken by more than 23,400 unique riders who have commuted a total of 330,000 miles. That’s enough to make it to the moon and half way back, he said. To put it bluntly: “People are scooting.” They were also there to tout the program’s expansion from downtown and into the Fair Haven, Cedar Hill, Mill River, and Long Wharf neighborhoods earlier this month. The program will also soon be coming to Beaver Hills. What started as 300 e-scooters at 50 different stations in and around downtown has grown into a program with 500 different e-scooters — of the standing and, now, seated varieties — at more than 150 different “mobility hubs” well beyond the city’s center. The e-scooters cost $1 to unlock and $0.40 per minute to ride. As Winter stressed during Tuesday’s presser, income-eligible riders — who, for example, receive SNAP benefits or discounts on their utilities — can ride on Veo e-scooters for free for up to two 15-minute rides each day through the Veo Access program. Elicker and Simpson put the Veo e-scooters in the context of the city’s broader efforts to grow the number of non-car ways for New Haveners to get around town — from the Ride New Haven bike share program to the government-subsidized Via rideshare system to the upcoming Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network to the improvements to Union Station. Ok. But what about sidewalk riding? King and Elicker said that Veo has seen quite the drop in sidewalk riding since the program’s inception. “Overall, it’s improved,” Elicker said, even if “it’s not perfect.” King said that the Veo e-scooters automatically slow down, from their usual 15 miles per hour max to 4 miles per hour, when on the sidewalk or within certain downtown “geofenced” zones. The vehicles also flash their lights and announce via a built-in speaker when a rider is on the sidewalk, alerting them that they need to get back on the road. (The program is also limited to riders aged 18 and up, and riders are encouraged to wear helmets.) Veo has also implemented a curfew — from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays — to discourage late-night reckless riding, especially downtown. King said that Veo does fine riders who consistently violate the program’s terms of service by, say, riding on the sidewalk or not parking an e-scooter in a designated spot at the end of a ride. She said the first three violations results in no fines, but instead “educational” warning; the next two result in $5 apiece; the next results in a $30 fine and being locked out of the system. What about crashes? Simpson said that, of the 56,000 Veo rides that have taken place so far this year, only 11 have resulted in crashes and only four of those crashes have resulted in injuries. “This is ‘Safe Routes for All’ in action,” Simpson said. She and other speakers added that the city is looking to upgrade Veo e-scooter stations into “hubs” where riders can also access and park Ride New Haven bike share bikes as well as their own bikes. Riding down Exchange to Tuesday’s presser. Alder Redente, with Climate Director Steve Winter: “This is a welcome addition to the neighborhood.” Some of the new, seated “Cosmo” e-scooters. The post Ready. Set. Scoot! In Fair Haven, Too appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less