Rocio Villalobos 
EDINBURG – If you’re 18 or over and in the east Edinburg area, you have a new option for transportation — the Blue Duck scooter. Edinburg is the first RGV city to test the electric scooters and the assistant city manager says, since introduced on the first of January, the scooters have taken off.
“So far it’s been a positive effect everywhere and we’re getting to see a lot of people on the scooters already,” said Edinburg assistant city manager Tom Reyna.
Over the next six months, the city will collect rider’s data to determine whether or not to implement the scooters into the city long-term.
Right now the scooters are not costing the city, but if all works out and it enters a partnership with Blue Duck, Reyna says Edinburg will gain a new source of revenue.
“What we do is we charge an applicant fee or permit fee for each scooter so that’s where the city will get some revenue from — the scooter rentals — not the rental itself but just allowing it in the city,” he said.
To get started, all you have to do is download an app, create an account and connect to a scooter. It costs $1 to get started and an additional 25 cents a minute. So a one-hour ride would cost $16.
There’s also a map that shows you where it can and cannot be ridden. Users are encouraged to wear a helmet and are responsible for following driving laws and street regulations.
“It’s ride at your own risk,” Reyna said. “They’re welcome to go right now on sidewalks, on all the bike lanes. Pretty much everywhere they’re located there’s somewhere they’ll be able to ride it on.”
While he’s excited to begin using the Blue Duck, UTRGV student Joel Aram Vela says he has one concern.
“The one thing that’s kinda bad is there’s not that much sidewalk here and a lot of people text and drive,” Vela said. “So that would be my only concern, but other than that I think they’re great.”
And while the scooters are prohibited on campus, it will lock if you enter the perimeter. Vela says he plans to ride it as close as he can to get to his classes, as well as recreationally.
Reyna says the city will receive its first batch of date sometime this week and at the one-month mark, a Blue Duck representative will visit to answer questions at a town hall.
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