4 APRIL 9-15, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Collision Course THE FIGHT FOR DENVER’S E-SCOOTER CONTRACT IS GETTING UGLY. BY HANNAH METZGER Rentable electric scooters were ridden nearly 6.8 million miles throughout Denver in 2025. That’s the equivalent of scooting around the entire circumference of the Earth — more than 270 times. The city’s shared micromobility program has grown into one of the largest in the nation since e-scooters arrived on Denver’s streets in 2018. Today, only two scooter companies are permitted to rent out the popular (and lucrative) vehicles in Denver: Lime and Bird. But that may soon change. In December, the Denver Department of Transportation & Infrastructure selected a new company, Veo, to take over the city’s scooter op- erations in 2026. While the current companies have seen great success in expanding ridership and running a world-leading equity program, they’ve also failed to address the unintended side effects. Despite pleas from residents and city leadership, their scooters continue to block sidewalks, facilitate illegal riding and lead to increasingly frequent deaths and injuries. With Veo, the city is seeking a new ap- proach to scooter travel while building on the strong foundation laid by the predecessors. But Lime and Bird are not leaving the Mile High City without a fi ght. The three companies are in the midst of an all-out turf war to determine who will main- tain control of the Denver market. For nearly four months, supporters of each company have fl ooded Westword’s inbox with opinion pieces, packed Denver City Council commit- tee rooms and helped postpone the council’s vote on Veo’s contract agreement...twice. The bitter battle will fi nally come to an end this month. Veo’s contract to operate in Denver is supposed to begin on May 1, while Lime and Bird’s contracts expire on May 16. City Council’s Transportation & Infrastructure Committee will consider Veo’s contract for the third time on April 15, after delaying the vote on March 18 and again on April 1. A Life-Changing Program The drama may sound excessive for a change that most riders might not notice if they didn’t have to download a new app to rent the scooters. But talking to the compa- nies and their critics, it seems a matter of literal life and death. That’s because of Lime Access, an equity program that lets low-income residents ride scooters for free if they receive city, state or federal subsidies like SNAP and Medicaid. The free transportation has been life-chang- ing for some, allowing them to get to work, school and appointments without cost, while avoiding public transit limitations, car traf- fi c, and the maintenance requirements and fear of theft that come with owning personal scooters and bikes. “It has helped me get to the births of two of my granddaughters. It has helped me keep a job that I was working after the hours that public transportation, like RTD, is running,” Arenthian Bohannan, a Lime Access rider, tes- tifi ed during the March 18 committee hearing. Veo has agreed to continue providing free rides with its own access program. But Lime has argued that the smaller micromobility company is incapable of taking over. Though Veo operates in more than fi fty cities, the Denver fl eet would be its largest to date. Its biggest market is currently in Washington, D.C., where it has approximately 4,000 ve- hicles, compared to the 9,000 Denver desires. Denver’s access program is Lime’s largest in the world, according to the company, with around 30,000 people signed up. “Transitioning this program in May — in the highest ridership season of the year — while Veo is engaging with a program here in Denver that is at least twice as large as any program they’ve ever run before, they’re go- ing to have their hands full no matter what,” says Zach Williams, Lime’s regional head of government relations. “We just want to make sure that there is suffi cient time between the transition to allow for as many people as humanly possible to get moved over.” Lime is seeking a contract extension of twelve to eighteen months to serve as a transitional period, Williams says. Despite Lime’s concerns that access rid- ers will fall through the cracks, DOTI says the company has refused to assist in transition- ing Lime Access users to Veo’s new access program until the contract is fi nalized. “We have specifi cally asked that the cur- rent operators communicate information about the access program transition to their access program users. ...Unfortunately, they have chosen not to,” Alaina McWhorter, DOTI’s legislative liaison, said at the April 1 committee meeting. “DOTI, Veo and the city can ramp up and expand our outreach and enrollment activities very quickly when this contract gets signed. We have the contingen- cies and mechanisms in place. ...We are not going to rely on our current vendor to do it out of the goodness of their heart.” Veo defends its ability to handle the tran- sition. The current access program aver- ages 7,000 to 8,000 active monthly users, according to the city; over 1,200 users have already pre-enrolled for Veo’s access pro- gram. Residents can use their participation in the current Lime Access program as proof of eligibility to enroll, and Veo will allow a grace period for users to ride for free throughout May without providing proof of eligibility. “They’re grasping at straws,” Alexander Keating, Veo’s vice president of policy and partnerships, says of Lime and Bird. “Both of those vendors have a track record of, if they feel they can intimidate a city with a lawsuit or a challenge, they will. ...Having lost the procurement, they have a lot on the line. They’re going to do what they need to do to try to protect themselves. I’m not super surprised, but I think it’s unfortunate.” Veo’s proposed NEWS continued on page 6 KEEP UP ON DENVER NEWS AT WESTWORD.COM/NEWS Veo’s contract to operate in Denver is supposed to begin on May 1. MONIKA SWIDERSKI HANNAH METZGER
