City Council today began the process of paring down the 14,500 electric scooters which are now authorized to be on San Antonio's streets, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The Council audit committee presented the parameters of a bidding process that will allow the seven companies that currently operate scooters in San Antnoio to vie to become one of the three companies that will be selected in the competitive bid to operate a maximum of 5,000 scooters that will be allowed.
The companies will have to pay a $100 annual operating fee to the city, and the contract will be for two years.
The scooters will mean $1.5 million in revenue to the city, according to the proposal, which was presented to the Audit and Accountability Committee by Assistant City Manager Lori Houston.
The propsoals will be due by July 22, and the three successful bidders will begin the operation of the scooters in October. Residents of three neighborhoods where scotters are common, downtown, King William, and Lavaca, will be on the committe that will select the successful bidders.
The paring down of the scooter companies and the authorized scooters is part of a longer term plan to impose new restrictions on scooter operations, limiting where they can be driven and how fast they can go, and setting parameters on whether scooters must be picked up and parked.