ofo's permit to operate in College Station is reinstated

The Eagle

By Whitney Miller

Published: October 26, 2018

COLLEGE STATION, Tex. (KBTX)

UPDATE: The College Station City Manager's office confirmed to KBTX that the city has reinstated ofo's permit as of Friday.

City staff tell us the bike share company is now meeting all required criteria to have the permit reinstated. That included adding $5,000 into a city escrow account.

News 3's Clay Falls is gathering details and will have the latest info Friday at 6.

ORIGINAL STORY: The city of College Station announced Thursday it’s revoked a permit for the company ofo, which operates the yellow ride-sharing bicycles.

As of October 12th, the company is no longer allowed to operate in College Station and the bikes will be picked up after the fall semester.

According to the city of College Station, ofo did not have the proper auto liability insurance to operate its vehicles that are used pickup bicycles that were left in improper places across town.

ofo has until Friday, October 26th to appeal the decision and to have the permit reinstated through the fall semester.

City officials say the bikes have been a source of controversy because many of them are left in places they shouldn’t be.

There have been 400 complaints to the city through its See, Click, Fix app. Currently, there are 2300 ofo bikes deployed in the BCS area, including Texas A&M University.

“We encourage citizens to keep reporting issues through See, Click, Fix so we can appropriately reprimand the vendor for bad behaviors,” said Aubrey Nettles, the city’s Special Projects Coordinator.

In the meantime, Nettles says ofo is being assessed a daily citation and fees.

Texas A&M announced it will be looking for a new vendor to supply ride-sharing bicycles for the spring semester.

Read the full article here.