Annual pass prices for Capital Metro’s Bikeshare program have been lowered for University students to $30, down from the originally arranged fee of $75, effective Aug. 1.
CapMetro announced changes to its fare system in an April 21 board meeting, including a $75 annual pass for all Austin area college and university students, an increase from the $12 price tag exclusively for UT students beforehand. The new $30 annual pass for UT students comes after the University partially subsidized the price for students, along with a discount for staff.
“As part of the fare updates, CapMetro staff engaged with The University of Texas at Austin, a long-standing partner, along with its students and staff,” Blythe Nebeker, interim communications manager and public information officer for CapMetro, wrote in an email. “As of August 2025, UT will subsidize a portion of the Bikeshare costs for its students and employees. UT students can now access an annual pass for $30, and UT staff for $60.”
University students can receive this discounted price through a Student Discount Form on UT and CapMetro’s website, while staff can receive the discount by emailing the University. However, bike users still have a time limit of 30 minutes without getting charged extra fees, a decrease from the 60-minute limit before August.
Economics junior Tanu Kaushik said she was devastated when she heard about the original $75 annual pass fee, as she uses the bikes as her main mode of transportation for her job. Although she is glad about the price reduction, she said she also wants to see more bikes to help make the price feel warranted.
“(The Bikeshare program) has become a necessity for me because I can’t walk in these summers, so I was going to renew it,” Kaushik said.
Finance junior Elijah Wang Chen has posted about his affinity for the Bikeshare service. He said he understood why CapMetro originally increased the annual pass. However, he said he hopes the new subsidized price will encourage more students to enroll in the program.
“I definitely think it will probably allow more people to find out about it,” Wang Chen said. “Right now, people just don’t know. They see (the bikes), but they don’t know how easy it is to actually get it.”
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article insinuated that CapMetro lowered the prices of the UT student pass for its Bikeshare program. Instead, the University subsidized the program, lowering the cost. The Texan regrets this error.
