With almost 40,000 Bobcats and limited parking, students can utilize several modes of alternative transportation across campus and San Marcos.
The Bike Cave
The Bike Cave operates on campus as an eco-friendly transportation option. The store is a full-functioning bike shop with repair tools and skilled employees. Students can buy, rent and repair bikes at the Bike Cave, which is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Although the hills on campus can be strenuous, students bike about daily. Joseph Morse, marketing senior and employee, said numerous students come in daily to fix their bikes and learn more about cycling.
“This town really needs cycling; we have issues from vehicle runoff in the river and traffic control issues, so cycling is a big solution,” Morse said. “However, owning a bike is hard, but having this shared space where we can solve some of the minor, but preventive things puts more bikes on the road and that really improves San Marcos.”
The Bike Cave is located in the Colorado building on Pleasant Street, in room 100. The Texas State app also includes information on bike rack locations for students who need to park their bikes during class and at night.
ZipCar
An innovative car rental service, Zipcar has partnered with Texas State to provide six vehicles stationed on campus, ready for students to use. Bobcats can go online, or download the app, to reserve a car. A Zipcar membership must be bought first.
With a Texas State account, the fee is only $3.50 a month. After registering, students can see cars near them available to rent. Once a student reserves a car, they will receive a “Zipcard” which allows them to lock and unlock their vehicle. The cars can be rented out for an hour, or up to seven days, with the rate being about $8.50 per hour. This rate includes gas, insurance and mileage. Two Zipcars are located in each of the parking lots of Lantana, Arnold Hall, Angelina and San Gabriel.
Alex Vogt, alternative transportation coordinator, said Zipcar is becoming an increasingly popular solution around campus, and is beneficial to students who do not have a car or are not of age to rent a standard rental car. Zipcar renters must be 18 or older.
THE BUS
Provided Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., the San Marcos Transit bus is free for students to use with a valid university ID, and has routes all across town. The buses circulate every hour, and major stops include H-E-B., Wal-Mart and the outlets, making it a useful service for residential students without a vehicle who need to shop. THE BUS can be found at 388 S. Guadalupe St.
Kerville Bus Company
Leaving from the LBJ Student Center bus loop, the Kerville buses offer one-way and round-trips to locations across Texas, so some students can go home for a small fee. The round-trips leave on Friday and return Sunday, and the price varies depending on the location. Dallas and Houston trips are $18 total, but Austin is $10. To buy a ticket, students need to visit the website and select where they are departing from, going to and on what dates.
Jocelyn Garza, nursing sophomore, said she rode the bus to Houston every other weekend in her first semester at Texas State, and it was convenient since she did not have a car.
“The best part is that it is only students, so you can meet new people, or everyone there is trying to get home, so they’re not looking for any problems,” Garza said. “It’s pretty relaxed and they’re pretty comfortable.”
