City Council approves ordinance joining Central Ohio shared mobility program, authorizes service agreement with Veeride (Veo)

Upper Arlington City Council voted to adopt Ordinance 16‑2025, authorizing the city to participate in the Central Ohio shared mobility program and allowing the city manager to sign a service agreement with Veeride Inc. (doing business as Veo) to operate scooters, e‑bikes and other micromobility devices in the city.

The ordinance was moved and seconded on the floor and approved by voice vote. “All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye… Motion carries,” President Wakasanjit said after the vote.

Why it matters: The agreement will replace the city’s previous docked bikeshare footprint with a Veo system that uses mobility hubs and mapped parking locations and offers several device types. Officials said the arrangement is a revenue share with no direct city cost for devices or hubs.

Staff presentation and vendor comments

Director Chad Gibson told council the city worked with Columbus on the procurement and that Columbus selected one regional vendor to reduce clutter and improve operations. He said Veo’s technology includes geofencing, slow zones and designated parking locations that reduce problematic device placement.

Joe Bhatt, senior policy and partnerships manager for Veo, explained the company’s approach to operations, saying the vendor combines GPS technology, mapped parking locations and a local operations team to manage vehicles. “We want to have the technology reduce bad or problematic outcomes … but we also have staff that are gonna be responsive and proactively out monitoring and actively managing the fleet,” Bhatt said.

Council questions and clarifications

Council members asked whether the program costs the city; Gibson said it does not and described a revenue share tied to mobility hubs. Council members also asked about rider age and school bike racks: staff said state law sets minimums (discussed during the meeting as 16) while Veo’s operator policy requires riders to be at least 18. School bike racks were not included in the initial map because school representatives did not opt in.

Other clarifying points provided by staff and the vendor:

- Previously: the city’s earlier docked system was installed in 2017 with grant support (staff said an 80% grant funded most stations).

- Ridership examples: Gibson cited Ohio State University’s system use—nearly a half‑million rides in one year—to illustrate potential demand; Upper Arlington’s prior docked system averaged about 1,100 starts or stops per year.

- Pricing and user flow: Bhatt described a typical user flow: download the Veo app, add payment, scan vehicle QR code, ride, then end the ride by photographing properly parked device. He said typical pricing is $1 to unlock and about $0.39 per minute for standing and seated scooters; membership options are available.

- Safety and helmets: Veo encourages helmet use and runs community helmet giveaways, but the company does not require helmets in its user policy; local law and operator policy govern age limits.

Implementation steps and staff direction

Gibson told council staff and the city attorney’s office were finalizing contract language with Veo and that staff would finalize the initial map of approved mobility hub and bike‑rack parking locations for the vendor to implement. He said public bike racks at parks and city facilities will be included; private business racks may be added later if owners opt in.

Action taken

Ordinance 16‑2025 was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote. The ordinance authorizes the city manager to execute a service agreement with Veeride Inc. to deploy and operate micromobility devices in Upper Arlington. No roll‑call tally with individual council member votes was recorded in the meeting minutes.

Ending

With the vote, staff will finalize the service agreement with Veo, populate the agreed parking map into Veo’s system and begin coordination for a phased regional rollout.