E-scooters in Manhattan, Kansas: Veo, Aggieville and Downtown, the highways and parking

Which e-scooter apps work in Manhattan, Kansas?

At 2:52 am Central Time on Tuesday 3 November 2026, the map of Manhattan showed about 330 Veo scooters free to rent at that moment.

Under City Code § 31-184, as Ordinance 7449 set it on 1 October 2019, no company may deploy shared scooters or bikes on the City’s streets, sidewalks or right-of-way unless the City Commission has approved a written agreement with it. The City entered into its agreement with VeoRide Inc. on 14 January 2025, for four years from that date unless it ends sooner. Kansas State University has a similar agreement with Veo for its campus, the City says.

The City’s agreement with Veo of January 2025 lists Veo’s fares and lets Veo change them on 30 days’ written notice to the City, so check the price in the app before you unlock. It also has Veo offer monthly memberships, among them reduced-fare plans for:

• People on low incomes: below 200% of the federal poverty level, or living in public housing. SNAP, Section 8 and Medicaid are among the accepted proofs.
• Students with a Pell grant or other financial aid.
• Veterans and active-duty military.
• AARP members, on the same terms as the others.

The agreement also requires Veo to make every rider sign a release of all claims against the City, in a form the City approves, as a condition of riding (§ 9). New to shared scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.

E-scooter rules in Manhattan, Kansas, in 2026

K.S.A. 8-15,113, in force since 1 July 2019, sets where an “electric-assisted scooter”, as Kansas law calls it, may go. Its rider follows the traffic regulations for bicycles. Interstate, federal and state highways are off limits, although a federal or state highway may be crossed. A city or county may go further by ordinance or resolution, up to a ban, on its public highways, streets and sidewalks. Manhattan did so in Ordinance 7449, which amended Article V of Chapter 31 of the City Code in 2019 to cover e-scooters and the companies that rent them.

These rules bind you as the rider. The City’s agreement with Veo binds the company, which must make commercially reasonable efforts to have its riders follow the City’s rules (agreement § 5).

Penalties. Ordinance 7449 states no fine. Its penalty section adds, to any other penalty for breaking the article, the cost of removing a company’s devices from City streets, sidewalks and right-of-way, charged to a company, or anyone acting for it, that deploys them without an approved agreement (§ 31-185).

Where can you ride an e-scooter in Manhattan, Kansas?

• Streets, under the bicycle traffic rules of state and local law, the City says.
• Sidewalks and plazas outside Aggieville and Downtown, at a reasonable speed and never above 15 mph, giving way to people walking or in a wheelchair and signalling before you pass them (§ 31-182(b)).
• Across a state or federal highway, such as Tuttle Creek Boulevard, but not along it.

Not on the sidewalks of Aggieville and Downtown. As adopted in 2019, § 31-182(a) bars riding on City sidewalks and City plazas in the parts of the city zoned C-3, Aggieville Business District, and C-4, Downtown Business District, and in City parking lots and garages anywhere in town. The ban covers bicycles, skateboards and roller skates as well as e-scooters. The City’s agreement with Veo of January 2025 applies the same section to the areas zoned CA, Aggieville Commercial, and CD, Downtown Commercial.

Parks, open space and the City’s zones. The agreement has Veo work to keep its riders to § 23-89 of the City Code in parks, recreation areas and open space, and out of any no-riding or no-parking zones the City designates (§§ 5.1, 5.6). Veo was to set its geofences and other special zones with the City before the launch (Exhibit A § 3.4.3). The agreement doesn’t map them, so watch the app’s map as you ride.

Riding on the K-State campus

Kansas State University allows seated and standing scooters on its campus and has partnered with the City and Veo on the shared scheme. Its Parking Services sets these guidelines for scooter riders, which apply on campus only:

• Ride alone: one rider per scooter.
• Give way to people on foot and to vehicles, keep off busy sidewalks, and use the bike lanes.
• Keep your attention on the ride: no phone, no headphones, both hands on the handlebars and your eyes on the way ahead.
• Ride sober, and wear a helmet, which K-State recommends.
• Park only in designated areas.

On campus, motorized scooters must obey the traffic laws, and riders who break them can be ticketed or arrested, K-State says.

Parking a shared scooter in Manhattan, Kansas

When you end a ride:

• In Aggieville or Downtown, use a rack or another spot the City has approved for scooters and bikes, and nowhere else (§ 31-183(a)).
• Elsewhere, leave it on the street-side curb where nothing forbids parking, or in a City-approved rack or area (§ 31-183(b)). The City bars leaving one on a public sidewalk outside an approved rack or spot.
• On private property, only where the owner allows it, the City says (§ 31-183(c)).

Badly parked or knocked over? The City’s agreement with Veo of January 2025 gives Veo two hours, from when it spots the problem or is told of it, to put right or take away a scooter that is parked wrongly, tipped over, damaged or in the way of people walking, cycling or driving. For a notice that reaches Veo after 8 pm, the deadline is 10 am the next day. If Veo is late, City staff may move or re-park the scooter, or impound it at a City facility. Police or City staff may do so at once if it blocks people walking or creates a traffic or safety hazard (Exhibit A § 4.9).

Under the same agreement, the City charges Veo $50 per impounded scooter for every seven days in storage (Exhibit A § 4.9.4).

Faults, hours and winter

Under the City’s agreement with Veo of January 2025:

• Hours. Veo is to run the service 24 hours a day, every day. Veo, K-State and the City may jointly agree to pause it for a period in the winter months, and it may also stop for extreme weather, a security threat or when otherwise required (Exhibit A § 4.1.1).
• Faults. Veo must keep its scooters in good mechanical order; a dead headlight or taillight, faulty brakes, bent or broken handlebars and a bent kickstand all fall short. A scooter reported with a safety or maintenance problem must be made unavailable, taken off the street within the agreement’s deadlines and repaired before anyone rides it again (Exhibit A § 2.3).
• Help. Veo must run customer support around the clock, working with its operations team in Manhattan (Exhibit A § 4.6).

Your own e-scooter in Manhattan, Kansas

Ordinance 7449’s riding rules (§ 31-182) cover any bicycle, micromobility device, skateboard or roller skates, and its parking rules (§ 31-183) any bicycle, e-bike, e-scooter or similar device, rented or owned. Its micromobility devices take in e-bikes, e-scooters, motorized skateboards, electric one-wheels and hoverboards, among others, but not motorized wheelchairs (§ 31-181). K.S.A. 8-15,113 likewise applies to any electric-assisted scooter. What the City’s agreement with Veo sets, such as the response deadlines and the impound fee, binds Veo and concerns its scooters only.

Elsewhere in Kansas

K.S.A. 8-15,113 applies across Kansas, and any city or county may add limits of its own on streets and sidewalks. For Kansas City, on both sides of the state line, see e-scooters in Kansas City.