The companies that own the electric scooters you see around Corpus Christi face a critical deadline on Monday if they want to keep operating here. However some of those companies, have yet to agree to the city’s new rules.
There are more than 1,000 dockless scooter in Corpus Christi. The scooters arrived in October, and three different companies own them.
Under a new city-created pilot program, the companies are being asked to pay a $1 per day fee, per scooter, to help the city keep them from blocking sidewalks, ADA ramps, and other right-of-ways around town.
But the fee wasn’t the city’s idea. It came from one of the companies named Bird.
“In the initial documentation that we received from Bird, they include a one dollar per scooter per day committment,” said Arlene Medrano, a city employee who works directly with the scooter companies.
Just because Bird suggested the fee, doesn’t mean they’re fully behind it. That’s because Bird, which operates about 800 scooters, says a fee like this could force them off the road.
“As it currently stands, the dollar a day is going to impose some limitations on our ability to continue to function and have an accessible mobility mode for the citizens in the city,” said Blanca Labord, a spokesperson for Bird.
The other two companies, Blue Duck and Lime combine for the other 400 scooters in town. On Friday morning, the city confirmed that Blue Duck has already agreed to the fee, but lime and Bird have not.
The city also tells KRIS 6 that Lime and Bird have until Monday to agree to the fee. If the companies do not agree, the city will likely start removing their scooters from the road.
