New Braunfels, TX Mobility & Curb Rules: TNC Pickup Zones (2026)

City Code Sec. 138-15, the "miscellaneous offenses" section of Chapter 138, Article I (Vehicles for Hire), makes it unlawful for a taxicab, pedicab or TNC driver to receive or discharge passengers in the roadway of any street. The code gives drivers a specific defense: pulling to the right-hand sidewalk, the extreme right-hand side of the road as nearly as practical, or into a driveway or parking lot before loading or unloading. That is New Braunfels' functional TNC pickup-zone rule: rather than mapping dedicated rideshare curb zones downtown, the city regulates behavior at the point of pickup and applies it uniformly to Uber, Lyft and other digital-network drivers alongside taxi and pedicab operators.

The same article layers on related conduct rules that reach TNC drivers directly: Sec. 138-8(d) caps occupancy at the vehicle's normal seating capacity for "any taxicab, pedicab, or TNC vehicle," Sec. 138-8(f) requires TNC drivers to comply with the citywide hand-held device ban in Sec. 126-104, and Sec. 138-6(d) provides that a TNC service permit is automatically suspended if the required liability insurance lapses and is not refiled with the city secretary. Article I was rewritten in full by Ord. No. 2017-59, § 2(Att. A), adopted August 14, 2017, the same year the Texas Legislature enacted statewide TNC regulation (Occupations Code ch.

2402), which preempts city permitting of TNCs but leaves neutral, generally applicable traffic and safety rules like the roadway-loading ban intact. New Braunfels also separately designates fixed curb passenger loading zones under Sec. 126-366 through 126-367, capped at a three-minute stop, but those sections govern general curbside loading citywide rather than being written for TNCs specifically.