Electric scooters have generated a buzz in Colorado Springs — drawing strong interest from riders and provoking 141 complaints filed through the city’s official application, mostly about poor parking.

A third of those complaints have been filed by one person, leaving about 95 additional complaints from individuals and businesses, said city spokeswoman Vanessa Zink.

Readers and residents have also reported scooters left laying along a city trail, dumped in medians and in front of homes miles from downtown, on social media and to the Gazette directly, with some noting they are an “eyesore” and they have gotten “stranded” way outside of downtown. Others are concerned about unsafe riding practices.

Lime and Veo both launched scooter services in town the week of Oct. 6, setting them up in downtown and Old Colorado City, but allowing users to ride them through wide swaths of the city.

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“The city is aware that a few scooters have ended up in unusual places,” said Todd Frisbie, city traffic engineer, in an email. He noted that Veo and Lime can track their scooters and are required to resolve scooter-related parking complaints filed with the city within two hours.

The city required the companies to set up parking spaces downtown and Old Colorado City, which is a requirement that only few cities have, Frisbie said. Outside of those areas, companies require the scooters get parked out of the public right of way and in an upright position, city spokeswoman Jamie Fabos said.

The city also requested several changes since the scooters launched, such as updating phone app messaging to ask users to park scooters in the designated areas and introducing geofencing to prevent scooters from riding and parking in city garages, Frisbie said.

“City staff has been pleased with the scooter companies’ responsiveness,” he said.

Veo’s Senior Policy and Partnerships Manager Jeffrey Hoover said general interest in the scooters has been “impressive.” To address parking concerns, the company is integrated with the city’s app to receive complaints in real time, he said.

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The company also monitors rider behavior and users who do not follow rules and regulations will not be allowed to use the scooters, he said.

Lime did not respond to requests for comment.

Scooter enthusiast Neal Taylor, 59, said he got into them working in Denver and was pleased to see them getting introduced in town.

“Now all those bike lanes that everybody complained about not being used, will be used at least,” he said.

He said the scooter rules are fairly straight forward and he feels comfortable on them in traffic, in part, because the scooters have a fairly slow top speed.

“They don’t drive that fast. It’s not like you are going to go zooming through an intersection,” he said.

He has found Veo’s customer service to be more responsive than Lime’s, but in general the scooters from either company are fairly similar.

Resident Sarah Locklear said she has tried the scooters out with her friends a few times and had fun.

“I love them. My only disappointment is they turn off at 11 p.m.,” she said.  Her friends planned to ride late in the evening when traffic was calmer, she said.

Hoover said the scooters operate from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. as part of the company’s agreement with the city.

Julian Hazyk, who was visiting downtown Colorado Springs from Denver Monday, said the scooters were everywhere in Denver when they first launched and “a real nuisance,” but management improved over time.

In Colorado Springs, the scooter companies have a year to pilot their services.

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