SAN MARCOS — San Marcos is getting in on the dockless bike craze we are seeing in Austin and across the country. These are bikes you can store essentially anywhere and rent from your phone.
The City on Thursday added 350 of the new bikes. The bikes have a Bobcat decal and gold paint to represent Texas State University.
San Marcos and the university are working with bike-share company VeoRide. They want to help the environment and free up parking spaces.
"This is really an ideal target for us as far as markets,” said VeoRide - Texas General Manager Matt Briggs.
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Each bike ride is 50 cents per 15 minutes. You find the bikes on the VeoRide app.
"Once you get to the bike, you click to scan the QR code,” said Briggs.
That unlocks the bike.
Texas State students ask people to be considerate of where they leave bikes.
"Just don't take the bike and, 'Oh, I'm gonna leave it right there in front of the doorway,'” said student Nelson Udeh. “I'm going to come back and get it.”
In Austin, dockless scooters are blocking sidewalks. San Marcos said it is working closely with VeoRide to discourage that.
"They've got the ability on the back end to work with us in real time to create what we're referring to as 'preferred parking areas,'” said Kevin Burke, assistant director of community service with the City of San Marcos.
These are areas next to the sidewalk but off the street.
Texas State University said it has designated locations on campus to leave the bikes. If you don't leave them at these locations, you will continue to be charged for the ride.
City of San Marcos officials said the bike operation is free for the City.
"We've given them a contract to operate here,” Burke said. “They're the only company that's allowed to operate in San Marcos right now, and part of the operating agreement is that they're actually going to be paying us for that right."
San Marcos will get two-and-a-half percent of the revenue VeoRide makes here.
Depending on how well the community responds to the dockless bikes, the City may bring in even more bikes.
San Marcos is also considering bringing dockless scooters to the city.