Crews Pull Scooters and E-Bikes from the Genesee River in Rochester, New York
The Genesee River in Rochester, New York had some unusual visitors this weekend. Not fish. Not kayaks. But shared scooters and e-bikes, pulled up by a crane near Broad Street.
They didn’t look like the scooters and bikes we see rolling around town. These were dripping with water. Caked in mud. Tangled in weeds and river debris. Alongside them came logs and other junk, dragged up from the bottom.
It’s not the first time this has happened. Back in May, News10NBC reported on a similar scene. Scooters and bikes had been tossed into the river then, too.
This time, Veo says it was a separate incident. The vehicles pulled up last weekend weren’t the same ones from spring. Those earlier ones had already been recovered.
Veo has a system for dealing with this. Once a scooter or bike is pulled out, their team inspects it. Parts that still work are reused. Pieces that can’t be salvaged—like old batteries—are recycled responsibly.
The company works with the City of Rochester to keep watch over the river. They’re also looking at new tech to prevent this kind of dumping in the future.
And they want people to know something important: most riders aren’t the problem. Thousands of Rochester residents use these scooters and bikes responsibly every day. What happened in the river is vandalism. It’s illegal dumping. If you see it happening, Veo says, call 311.
Despite the damage, micromobility in Rochester is thriving. In 2024, riders took more than 425,000 trips on Veo scooters and bikes. That replaced about 80,000 car trips—cutting down on traffic and pollution.
Even as ridership grew 91% compared to 2023, complaints about parking went down. More riders. Better behavior. A system getting stronger.
So while a crane pulled mud-covered scooters from the river this weekend, the bigger story is still on the streets: e-bikes and scooters changing the way Rochester moves.
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