How to park like a pro.
See why our products call particular places home.
You hop on one of our bikes or scooters and go for a cruise. Once you’re done, you open the Gotcha app to end your ride. All of a sudden, you’re getting hit with an extra fee! WTF?! Why? You didn’t wreck anything. You already paid your unlock fee, or purchased one of our Mo-Pass subscriptions.
Chances are you’re not parked where you’re supposed to be. Unlike most shared mobility providers, we use hub-based systems whenever possible. That means our products need to be dropped off at a designated area marked in our app, not left just anywhere.
What are hubs?
A hub is a place to park your bike or scooter. Sometimes we have an actual rack or other tangible object where you should drop it off after your ride. Other times, you may see lines painted or taped to the ground and marked with a larger object for visibility. Either way, you’ll find them in the app marked with icons shaped like a bike or scooter (or a combo of both).
What happens if I ignore hubs while parking?
Well, first and foremost, you’ll be charged an additional fee. If you park within our system area (anywhere you can ride - outlined in red) but outside of a hub, you’ll be charged an “out-of-hub fee.” It’s usually a $5 charge, but can vary from place to place.
Then there’s the biggie: an “out-of-system fee.” Often, this charge is around $50. You’ll be assessed this fee when you travel outside of the Gotcha system area (again, outlined in red) and end your ride there. Not great for you, but not great for us either. When you park outside the system, our team has to go retrieve the bike or scooter and bring it back home. That requires more time and money on our part, hence the higher fee.
Why have hubs to start with?
Great question with a few answers.
They make it easy for riders like you to find products in predictable places when you want to get somewhere.
They keep streets, sidewalks, lawns, and other areas free from clutter.
They help our systems naturally rebalance themselves - meaning more products for you and lower rates from us.
That’s all well and good, but why charge a fee?
Short answer: to make sure people follow the rules.
Long answer: we would rather take the “innocent until proven guilty” route. That means we only charge people when they don’t park where they’re supposed to. Otherwise, we would have to charge some sort of deposit and refund you for good behavior. That sounds like a headache for everyone. And we like to avoid those.
Anything else I need to know about parking?
One last thing. You might see some areas marked in red with a no-parking icon. You guessed it: don’t park here. These areas are often designated by cities or colleges to be bike or scooter free.