San Marcos hopes expanded scooter pilot program can benefit underserved communities

The City of San Marcos recently expanded its electric scooter pilot program to serve more of the city at all hours of the day. 

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – The City of San Marcos recently expanded its electric scooter pilot program to serve more of the city at all hours of the day. 

The city approved its first iteration of the pilot program in 2020 after considering a ban in 2019. One hope of expanding the pilot program was providing more affordable transportation options to folks living in San Marcos. For now, the micro-mobility company Spin is the only business eligible to deploy dockless devices within the city. 

“One of the biggest benefits is providing an additional form of transportation for underserved areas and a more equitable form of transportation,” said Charles Campbell, the multimodal parking initiatives manager. “Scooters are a lower cost alternative to owning a car.”

Before the expansion went into effect July 1, most scooters and e-bikes were consolidated to denser parts of San Marcos, like its downtown and near Texas State University. Now, some living east of Interstate 35 are able to access them. 

Additionally, before July 1, users could not use the devices between midnight and 5:00 a.m. Now, people in San Marcos can access them all day and night. 

“We've expanded the program to offer 24-hour scooter service with the hope of providing an additional transportation option for third shift workers, students and other community members,” Campbell said. 

Representatives from the San Marcos Police Department and Texas State Police Department told KXAN that they have not received many reports of incidents related to the scooters or the e-bikes.