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posted by janrinok on Monday June 11 2018, @10:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the just-wheelin'-it dept.

Submitted via IRC for Fnord666

Uber and Lyft are reportedly battling it out to buy Citi Bike's parent company, Motivate

Lyft might have thought its plan to buy bike-sharing company Motivate was a done deal. Uber, it seems, has other plans. Reports last week suggested that Lyft had struck a deal for upwards of $250 million to buy Motivate. But Uber is considering muscling in with its own offer, Axios reports.

Motivate is behind Citi Bike in New York and Ford GoBike in San Francisco, along with bike-sharing programs in other cities including Boston, Chicago, and Washington, DC. Commuters used its bikes 3.18 million times last month.

As the battlegrounds get more intense for the companies' non-ridesharing offerings, Uber and Lyft are exploring electric scooters and, yes, bike sharing. Uber recently bought Jump, which has an exclusive permit to run a dockless bike share system in San Francisco, so Motivate would expand its portfolio of urban services.

Both Uber and Lyft have reportedly applied for licenses to run electric scooters in San Francisco; scooters were recently pulled from the city's streets pending a licensing process, in part because they've proven a nuisance for many. There are more ways than cars to get people around cities, and both companies seem to be focusing more on alternative transport methods. Bike sharing, at the very least, would be a stopgap until flying cabs come along.

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/08/uber-motivate-citi-bike-acquisition-lyft-bikesharing/


Original Submission

Related Stories

Lyft Acquires America's Largest Bike-Sharing Company, Motivate 9 comments

Lyft buys the biggest bike-sharing company in the US

Lyft has acquired Motivate, the bike-sharing company that operates Citi Bike in New York City and Ford's GoBike program in San Francisco. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though it was reported in June to be around $250 million.

Motivate, which Lyft says accounts for about 80 percent of bike-share trips in the US, also operates networks in Chicago; Boston; Washington, DC; Portland, Oregon; Columbus; and Minneapolis. Lyft says it "will invest to establish bike offerings in our major markets and pursue growth and innovation in the markets where Motivate currently operates," but it's unclear where or when it might expand beyond the cities Motivate is currently in. The company also did not share when Motivate's bikes will be available in the Lyft app.

Also at NYT and TechCrunch.

Previously: Uber May Try to Buy Citi Bike Parent Company Motivate

Related: New Electric Bikes, Scooters, and Dockless Bicycles Hitting U.S. Streets
Uber Buys Electric Bicycle-Sharing Startup JUMP Bikes


Original Submission

Lyft Removes Faulty Electric Bicycles From Three Cities 32 comments

Brakes that are too effective have led Lyft to remove thousands of its electric pedal-assist bicycles from New York City (Citi Bike), San Francisco (Ford GoBike), and Washington, D.C. (Capital Bikeshare):

A month ago, Jordan Wyckoff was riding an electric Citi Bike to work in Brooklyn when he slammed on the brakes to avoid a minivan that swerved in the bike lane. But when he hit the brakes, the front wheel locked up, sending Mr. Wyckoff over the front of the handlebars and onto the pavement.

The same thing happened to Dominik Glodzik when he tried to brake before a stop sign in Astoria, Queens about two months ago.

William Turton flipped over the front of an electric Citi Bike while trying to brake before an intersection on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn.

In recent months, dozens of riders have reported injuries while riding electric Citi Bikes, prompting the company on Sunday to pull all of the approximately 1,000 electric bicycles from New York City's streets amid safety concerns about the brakes. Lyft, which owns Citi Bike, took similar precautions with its other bike-sharing services in Washington and San Francisco.

Motivate, a subsidiary of Lyft since 2018, operates bicycle sharing systems in several cities.

Also at BBC and Engadget.

Previously: Uber May Try to Buy Citi Bike Parent Company Motivate
Lyft Acquires America's Largest Bike-Sharing Company, Motivate

Related: New Electric Bikes, Scooters, and Dockless Bicycles Hitting U.S. Streets
Uber Buys Electric Bicycle-Sharing Startup JUMP Bikes


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday June 11 2018, @11:35PM (12 children)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Monday June 11 2018, @11:35PM (#691662) Homepage

    " scooters were recently pulled from the city's streets pending a licensing process, in part because they've proven a nuisance for many. "

    Ahh, Bay Area NIMBY hypocrisy again foils a good idea. Of course it's an awesome idea, and those scooters are fun. One problem around here I see with app-rented scooters and bikes is that nihilistic violent minorities keep trashing them for no reason. They will try to break the locks off to steal the bikes, and if they don't succeed, they will kick the rims in and yank the seats out of spite.

    The point I am trying to make here is that since Bay-Area NIMBYs don't like them, and neither do minorities, then we should bus all the minorities and other illegals into the Bay Area.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @12:45AM (7 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @12:45AM (#691695)

      One problem around here I see with app-rented scooters and bikes is that nihilistic violent minorities keep trashing them for no reason.

      That is what happens when you have the tech industry, it attracts violent nihilistic white minority hipsters. But the nice thing about the bike/scooter options is that you don't have to worry about being shot/raped by the low-life scab cabbie who's driving his own vehicle, complete with his own armory.

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:06AM (6 children)

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:06AM (#691711) Homepage

        Cabbies are not violent. They're just so goddamn overpriced, and rideshare services rightly so took our their knees. The funny thing about cabbies is that capitalism (rideshare services) is a system which actually worked for the good of the common-man this time. Before rideshare services, it was a two-hour wait if they even showed up at all. But that would imply that they would be on equal footing and be more aggressive to compete, and they could.

        But that isn't the case. The case is that they were offered a cushy life here, away from their African origins, for helping and continuing to help the CIA with its African intelligence-gathering overseas in Eithiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, etc.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:20AM (5 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:20AM (#691716)

          rideshare services rightly so took our to their knees.

          FTFY!
          That's what I'm talking about! The forced oral raping! It's like Starpuck's in "Idiocracy" (which stars Ethanol_fueled in some of the opening sequences,BTW.)

          • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:24AM (4 children)

            by frojack (1554) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:24AM (#691719) Journal

            Oh look, a troll trying to troll the king of trolls.

            --
            No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
            • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:41AM (3 children)

              by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:41AM (#691731) Homepage

              I do not deserve that title: I stood on the shoulders of giants:

              The original Slashdot trolling culture. Pity that the people in charge thought that they had to bring and end to it.

              • (Score: 4, Informative) by aristarchus on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:56AM (2 children)

                by aristarchus (2645) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:56AM (#691745) Journal

                EF is not a troll. He is just an American Conservative. You know, vaguely libertarian, pro-market and cheap, racist and misogynist, not very well educated, provincial and the product of a patronage system like that which placed John McCain.

                • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday June 12 2018, @03:11AM (1 child)

                  by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @03:11AM (#691759) Homepage

                  You can call me "cheap." You can call me "racist and misogynist." You can call me "not very well-educated."

                  But Don't you dare even think of comparing me to the traitor John McCain. I come from a family of the proudest warriors America has to offer. I am a proud patriot. I am on your side. Maybe not yours, fifth-columnist scum. But my loyalty belongs to the United States of America.

                  • (Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Tuesday June 12 2018, @06:29AM

                    by aristarchus (2645) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @06:29AM (#691803) Journal

                    Triggered! My African forbears spit on your treason, Ethanol_fueled!

                    (Oh, for those wondering, the island of Samos had a long relation to Egypt. They had maths, and stuff. Smarter than those white barbarians to the north who never got enough vitamin D, back in the day before fortified milk, and whiteness. [theconversation.com])

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @12:48AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @12:48AM (#691698)

      The problems according to Gizmodo: "they're often strewn aside carelessly, blocking the public right-of-way, thus making it especially difficult for wheelchairs and those with disabilities to move past them. Further, scooter riders are using them on the sidewalk, which is not only illegal but dangerous."

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:13AM (2 children)

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @01:13AM (#691714) Homepage

        And just what percentage of the population in San Fran uses wheelchairs? Answer: an extremely negligible one. And the last sentence you wrote outlines the reason why people hate cyclists: Douchebags who ride in the streets outside automobiles don't know how to. San Franciscan streets are even more impacted with traffic than where I live. You really think it's a good idea for having the streets even more clogged than they usually are? San Franciscan sidewalks are pretty goddamn open compared to here. Their sidewalks could stand to have a bit more traffic. The only times San Francisco sidewalks are cluttered is when the gays come out of the woodwork to have their naked street-orgies.

        But if you're paying a million bucks a month to live in a sweet Victorian, I can see why you would be annoyed enough to complain to city hall about the occasional errant scooter laying on its side outside your door.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 12 2018, @08:31AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 12 2018, @08:31AM (#691828) Journal

          And the last sentence you wrote outlines the reason why people hate cyclists: Douchebags who ride in the streets outside automobiles don't know how to.

          Ah, the God given right to drive a car shall not be infringed by those douchebag cyclists who don't know how to properly ride in the presence of automobiles**.

          ---

          ** The proper way to ride a bicycle is either:

          1. under the wheels of an automobile; or
          2. with the bike mounted in the tray of at least a pickup truck (if not a fully blown Mack trailer tractor), while a normal person does the driving

          (grin)

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday June 12 2018, @06:54PM

          by darkfeline (1030) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @06:54PM (#692051) Homepage

          If providing accommodations to the disabled really gets your knickers in a twist, banning electric scooters should be pretty low on your list of things to fight. What about building requirements for ramps, elevators, disabled access, and reserved parking spots?

          --
          Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
  • (Score: 2) by iwoloschin on Tuesday June 12 2018, @12:49PM

    by iwoloschin (3863) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @12:49PM (#691867)

    What's funny is that one of the biggest obstacles to safe bicycle commuting in my area is Uber/Lyft. Their drivers constantly block the bike lanes and tell cyclists to go around, but then are the first to honk at cyclists who have taken the lane (which is legal, by me at least). We've got some great bicycle share systems in the area, but there's no way you're going to make a profit on them unless you can convince more folks that biking is safe, and you're just not going to do that if the other half of your business is dedicated to getting as many people off bikes and public transit as possible.

    Of course, if Uber/Lyft actually do start caring about cyclists that'd be great.

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