Vicksburg one step closer to having scooter rentals downtown

Vicksburg is another step closer to having scooters for residents and tourists to ride in the downtown area.

Representatives from San Antonio, Texas, based Blue Duck Scooters were in town on Thursday, Jan. 30, to move the process forward to bring their scooters to Vicksburg.

Enjoying the brisk, sunny weather to demonstrate how easy it is to ride them, Mayor George Flaggs Jr. and North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield joined the team from Blue Duck, Vice President of Global Operations Peter Gomez and Chief Innovation Officer Andre Champagne, on the street to take a few rides.

“It’s a new, true, last mile, clean, green solution,” Champagne said, “and the City of Vicksburg is in the vanguard of micro-mobility.”

One of the scooter safety features is automatic deceleration going downhill, the Mayor said, an important feature in a city full of hills such as Vicksburg. They will also be equipped with GPS technology and use an automatic shutdown feature if the scooters are taken out of designated areas or if someone attempts to use them during unauthorized hours.

When the contract is finalized for the pilot program, Vicksburg will be the first city in Mississippi to have a scooter rental program.

“I think it’s a win for the State of Mississippi,” Flaggs said. “I think it’s a win for the City of Vicksburg and the scooter company.”

Flaggs feels the scooters will be a great amenity for the tourist areas of the city and hopes to see the program implemented by April.

“We’re 90 percent good on the contract,” he said.

Watch our live, on-the-scene videos on our Facebook page.

The proposed area for Blue Duck scooters. (image from the City of Vicksburg)