Blue Duck scooters are one of three brands of electric dockless scooters offered in downtown Corpus Christi. With Bird Rides and LIme, the three companies have about 100 scooters total for rent. Courtesy photo
While the Corpus Christi city council contemplates scooter regulations, San Antonio-based Blue Duck Scooters wants everyone to get a chance to ride for free. During January, all Blue Duck Scooters in San Antonio and Corpus Christi. The company announced its Fly Wild campaign as the city council launched an online survey in Corpus Christi seeking comments and opinions about the scooters.
Within four hours of first launching the survey, 80 people commented on the new dockless scooters for rent in downtown Corpus Christi. The city of Corpus Christi posted the survey on its Facebook page.
“You've seen them around town,” reads the post. “Dockless scooters are everywhere! What are your thoughts about them? Have you used this service? Visit our website and take the survey. We want to hear from you! Check it out: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NYZKCZW.”
Comments include both positive and negative reactions to the scooters with those supporting the scooters dominating the comments section. Most negative reactions came from concern over scooters blocking wheelchair access on sidewalks and crosswalks.
“My hubby needs that sidewalk for his wheelchair,” said one commenter.
“I stopped and moved some on a sidewalk blocking a guy in a wheelchair,” read another. “Great idea just keep the sidewalks clear.”
At its Jan. 8 meeting, the Corpus Christi City Council plans to look into how to regulate scooters — something that has some concerned residents commenting on the city’s Facebook page. Multiple comments referred to the city regulating the scooters out of business.
“City council will screw it up by regulations on them,” commented one person. “Wait and see.”
Others pointed out that the city streets are hard on cars, much less scooters.
“Fix the streets!” wrote one poster. “Can’t ride in my neighborhood due to potholes.”
“The scooters aren’t the issue,” added another. “The roads and our backward thoughts on pedestrian safety are the only issues the city needs to solve.”
The city has a Dockless Vehicles page on its website that also links to the survey. According to the information posted, three companies currently have scooters available for rent: Bird Rides, Blue Duck Express, and Lime scooters. Together, they have about 100 scooters set out across the city for rent.
To ride a Blue Duck scooter free, use the smart phone app as usual. No fee will be charged throughout the month of January for unlocking the scooter. No per-minute charges for riding will accrue either.
“Offering free rides is just our way of giving a sincere thanks to everyone who has put their confidence in us," said co-founder and CEO Eric Bell. "We hope the free rides will encourage others to try us out.”
