Pensacola’s only shared scooter program will end this fall. At his weekly press conference Tuesday, Mayor D.C. Reeves said the city will terminate its contract with Veo on Nov. 1 after a resident survey showed broad concerns about the service and its value.
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“There’s a clear majority of our residents that have a concern with this that don’t see necessarily the value in it,” Reeves said.
Reeves pointed to two main factors in the decision: resident sentiment and infrastructure limitations. He emphasized that the move was not a reflection on the company itself.
“I still think that there’s a real opportunity for us to have some type of innovative multimodal options, and I’m always open to that,” he said. “But I think we have played this iteration out and it’s just not hitting the mark. I want to be clear too, I don’t put this in any way on the specific operation of the company or anything that they’ve done right or wrong. I just think our city infrastructure is not built the way it is in larger cities where you have these protected bike lanes, where you have the ability for people to be very clear in knowing that they shouldn’t be on the sidewalk, that they shouldn’t be using it in certain way.”
Reeves also addressed one of the stated goals of scooter programs — providing access for those without cars — but said Pensacola hasn’t seen that promise fulfilled.
“While the idea is noble that this is helping folks that maybe don’t have an access to a vehicle if you get around the city, and that’s good philosophically, and I certainly love that concept, we aren’t seeing that happening in application,” Reeves said. “We aren’t seeing the ridership from other parts of the city or lower income parts of our city using this regularly.”
Just hours after Reeves’ announcement, Veo sent a mass text message to its registered riders in Pensacola urging them to lobby the mayor to keep scooters in the city. The message framed scooters as essential for residents and visitors to commute, run errands, and connect with family and friends, and linked to an online action page titled “Act now: Keep scooters in Pensacola.”
Veo pushed back on the city’s survey results. In a statement to WUWF, Alex Keating, the company’s vice president of policy and partnerships, argued the survey was based on too small a sample and did not reflect the full scope of scooter use.
“The results don’t point to a clear mandate," Keating said. "Fifty-two percent said to remove scooters, while nearly half either support keeping them or haven’t made up their minds,” Keating said. “Our data shows nearly one in three Pensacola residents has used scooters to get around.”
Just hours after Reeves’ announcement, Veo sent a mass text message to its registered riders in Pensacola urging them to lobby the mayor to keep scooters in the city. The company framed scooters as essential for residents and visitors to commute, run errands, and connect with family and friends. By Wednesday morning, Keating said more than 700 residents had already emailed the mayor to share what the service meant to them.
“Their message is clear: scooters are a necessity,” Keating said. “Instead of shutting the program down, we believe there’s an opportunity for the City and Veo to work together to address concerns and improve the program so it continues to serve residents and visitors effectively and responsibly.”
Pensacola is not alone in grappling with these issues. Cities around the world have weighed the convenience and environmental benefits of scooters against safety risks, sidewalk clutter and accessibility concerns. Some have tightened rules; others, like Paris, have voted to end their programs altogether.
