9 most crucial questions answered to build an e-scooter app in Texas (Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio)
Being the top e-scooter app development company in the USA, we previously shared a comprehensive guide to building the e-scooter app in California, Virginia, and Michigan.
- Build an e-scooter app in California.
- Build an e-scooter app in Virginia.
- Build an e-scooter app in Michigan.
In this blog, we will carry forward the legacy and share the far-reaching guide to build an e-scooter app in Texas, one of the sunniest states of America. To make your understanding more rational, we’ll list down the top 9 questions and their answers.
These questions and their answers will clear all your doubts and make you familiar with the cost & time of app development, market, government laws and most profitable cities of Texas to deploy e-scooters.
Question #1: Who are the big players dominating the micro-mobility market of Texas?
Texas is among one of the few micro-mobility markets which have first adapted the micro-mobility culture. And so, the micro-mobility market of Texas is business-ready and helping micro-mobility startups to break-even quickly. The governments of all major cities of Texas have already imposed very clear laws related to the use of e-scooters which dramatically reduces the time and effort to get the permit.
The capital city of Texas, Austin, has eight licensed e-scooter operators which cater to 500,000 riders monthly with more than 18000 micro-mobility vehicles. Though there are 8 micro-mobility startups operating their business in Austin, many eco-friendly residents of the city are still underserved and thus, there is still room available for new micro-mobility startups to maneuver.
The following graph clearly depicts that Austin has experienced a significant increase in the number of e-scooter trips.
Another image shows the behavior of the e-scooter riders. The white points in the following image indicate the starting points of the trips and blue points indicate the locations where riders end the ride. If you study this image closely, you can easily find out that the usage of e-scooter is higher near Austin downtown and The University of Texas.
The following are the top micro-mobility startups operating their business in cities of Texas.
- Bird
To know more about Bird and build a clone of it, read our dedicated blog.
- Jump
To know more about Jump and build a clone of it, read our dedicated blog.
- Lime
To know more about Lime and build a clone of it, read our dedicated blog.
- Lyft
To know more about Lyft and build a clone of it, read our dedicated blog.
- OjO
Click here to know more about OjO.
- Spin
To know more about Spin and build a clone of it, read our dedicated blog.
- Wheels
Click here to know more about Wheels.
Question #2: Why is a micro-mobility startup more likely to be profitable in Texas?
If you are planning to build an e-scooter app in Texas, but having cold feet over the thought of the profitability and success of the app, here are the top 3 reasons why you should stop worrying.
- Pleasant weather throughout the year
A rider generally does not prefer to ride an e-scooter in freezing cold, on icy roads. Thus, it is safe to say that the profitability of the e-scooter sharing business highly relies on the weather of the business terrain. Many startups that are operating their business in snowy cities don’t earn a dollar during the winter months and suffer a big financial loss.
But, the weather of Texas remains pleasant throughout the year. While writing this blog, when the winter is at its peak in other parts of the country, the temperature of major cities of Texas lies somewhere around 23 Celsius. Though the mercury rises a bit in the months of summer, the number of very hot days isn’t many.
- E-scooter friendly infrastructure
Cities should have wide footpaths and dedicated bicycle lanes to host the micro-mobility culture. New York City banned the e-scooters because of narrow and crowded footpaths and drivers not respecting the bicycle lanes.
But talking about the cities of Texas, wide footpaths and dedicated bicycle lanes are ensuring the safety of riders and giving an opportunity to the government to easily solve the last mile connectivity problem.
(Protected bicycle lanes in Austin, Texas)
- Clear e-scooter regulations
Even though we’ve come so far since the first launch of Bird e-scooter in 2017, many cities haven’t yet put forth the regulatory structure. And thus, a micro-mobility startup has to spend a lot of time to get the permit.
But in cities of Texas, city authorities have already drafted an ordinance regulating the e-scooter. Any micro-mobility startup can easily comprehend the e-scooter regulations from the official website of the City Council and apply for the permit.
Question #3: What are the laws an operator and e-scooter rider should follow in Texas?
The following are the most common laws related to the use of e-scooter imposed by the cities of Texas. ( When you’ll approach us to build an e-scooter app in Texas, our business experts will make you familiar with the e-scooter laws of your selected city of Texas. )
- An e-scooter rider should avoid riding on sidewalks, especially in downtown areas.
- An e-scooter rider should ride in bicycle lanes whenever available.
- An e-scooter rider should wear a helmet at all times.
- An e-scooter rider should signal the intent to turn.
- An e-scooter rider should park an e-scooter in a secure, upright position in designated areas.
- An operator should print his contact details on every vehicle.
- Dockless Mobility Units must only be available to customers at rates that are clearly and understandably communicated to the customer prior to use.
- An e-scooter should have an electric motor of fewer than 750 watts.
- The maximum speed of the e-scooter should be 20 mph.
- A maximum of 500 vehicles is allowed to deploy on the streets.
- The operator should respond to complaints within the following timeframes.
- Sidewalk Obstruction of less than 3 feet – 60 minutes;
- Travel and bicycle lanes – 60 minutes;
- Transit stop obstructions – 60 minutes;
- Environmentally sensitive area– 60 minutes;
- Private property – 2 hours;
- Rebalancing off-hours – 2 hours;
- Other obstructions and nuisances – 2 hours;
Question #4: Which one is the best Texas city to start an e-scooter sharing business?
Considering the micro-mobility market of all cities of Texas, you can start your e-scooter sharing business in any city of Texas. But to compete with other players and be profitable, you should decide the business terrain after taking the scale of your startup into account.
If you are a small scale startup with limited initial capital, you should opt for less intensified markets such as Fort Worth, El Paso, Arlington, Corpus Christi. You can also tie-up with universities and launch your service within the boundaries of a university.
And if you are a medium-large scale startup with sufficient initial capital, you should opt for intensified markets as you have the resources to compete with the big players. These intensified markets include Austin and San Antonio.
Question #6: How much does it cost to build an e-scooter app in Texas?
The cost to build an e-scooter app in Texas depends on the approach you choose.
- To develop a custom e-scooter app with all custom features, we charge somewhere between $15K to $25K.
- The price to develop a clone e-scooter app of some popular e-scooter apps starts from $10K.
- And our subscription plan for the white label e-scooter app starts from just $500.
Question #7: Why should you choose Coruscate as the technology partner?
Coruscate is the top e-scooter app development company that has developed 10 e-scooter apps for different markets.
We accommodate 100+ app developers, app designers, IoT engineers, business experts, and legal advisors who all work together to make your business journey painless.
Our app developers and app designers keep a close eye on all the latest technologies and employ them to develop a disruptive e-scooter app. And our IoT engineers work parallel with app developers to integrate some groundbreaking IoT features in the app.
Question #8: Do we offer services beyond app development?
Yes, our business experts help micro-mobility startups to decide on the business model, draft the business plan and study the market. Whereas, our legal advisors help micro-mobility startups to get the permit at a surprisingly fast pace.
Question #9: How to contact us?
By just filling out the following form, you can contact us. And when we receive your message, one of our senior business experts will welcome you with the free e-scooter app demo and free consultation.