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
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Two-wheeled electric vehicles have benefited from improvements in battery technology:
As car companies make strides toward expanding the reach of electric cars in the U.S., the same is happening in the world of two wheels. Outside the U.S., motorcycles, mopeds and scooters are vital, affordable forms of transportation that alleviate congestion. They also run on fossil fuels, and many of the smaller motors are more polluting than regular cars.
In the U.S., these smaller vehicles largely have been leisure devices. But as battery technology improves and cities get denser, some startups are seeking to produce cheaper and greener mopeds, scooters and motorized bikes. When John McChesney reported on e-bikes for NPR in 2008, they were pretty much a new thing in the U.S. Electric bikes have a long history but re-emerged after the turn of the century.
Meanwhile, dockless bikesharing programs, popular in China, have made their way to the U.S. The bicycles are located using GPS, unlocked using smartphones, and parked almost anywhere. Entrants such as LimeBike, Mobike, Spin, and Ofo are competing against existing bikeshare initiatives and public-private partnerships that use fixed docks. Dockless bicycles have made their way across the nation, sparking skepticism, 911 calls, and thefts.
Cycling gadgets: the invisible trackers and dockless bikes shaping 2018
Dockless bike-sharing startup LimeBike is working on creating virtual parking spots
Uber is getting into the dockless bicycle-sharing business with an acquisition reportedly worth $100-200 million:
Uber has acquired bike-sharing startup JUMP for an undisclosed amount of money. This comes shortly after TechCrunch reported that JUMP was in talks with Uber as well as with investors regarding a potential fundraising round involving Sequoia Capital's Mike Moritz. At the time, JUMP was contemplating a sale that exceeded $100 million. We're now hearing that the final price was closer to $200 million, according to one source close to the situation.
JUMP's decision to sell to Uber came down to the ability to realize the bike-share company's vision at a large scale, and quickly, JUMP CEO Ryan Rzepecki told TechCrunch over the phone. He also said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's leadership impacted his decision.
[...] JUMP is best known for operating dockless, pedal-assist bikes. JUMP's bikes can be legally locked to bike parking racks or the "furniture zone" of sidewalks, which is where you see things like light poles, benches and utility poles. The bikes also come with integrated locks to secure the bikes.
Also at VentureBeat, Recode, and The Mercury News.
Related: New Electric Bikes, Scooters, and Dockless Bicycles Hitting U.S. Streets
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/
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.
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
E-bikes are the fastest-growing segment of the bicycle industry. They're popular with commuters and baby boomers who might not otherwise be able to get out on a bicycle.
The bikes, which can cost $2,000 or more, combine the frame of a regular bike with lightweight batteries and electric motors for extra zip.
Their sales jumped 72% to $144 million in the U.S. last year, helping to breathe life into bicycle sales that have been relatively flat, according to the NPD Group, which tracks retail bike sales nationwide.
Their popularity has led to conflict.
In bike-friendly southern California, as local land managers take cues from agencies like the National Park Service, some are banning e-bikes from bicycle paths. That has angered riders, said Morgan Lommele, of PeopleForBikes, a bicycle advocacy group and trade association.
[...] Maine and 21 other states have adopted laws that classify e-bikes into categories. Most are treated like regular bicycles under such laws, said Lommele, who has been working with states to create uniform definitions. Only the fastest e-bikes are restricted to roads.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday July 03 2018, @11:19PM (3 children)
Its a hipster thing to be seen on the bikes, so cost doesn't matter, in fact being very expensive is excellent conspicuous consumption. Poor people drive cars only rich hipsters can afford to ride a bike. None the less I'll dump the latest prices in my home town:
Bike rental $4 / 30 mins plus $4 for each additional half hour plus tax. Also your liability in infinite, if a homeless guy shits on the seat after you turn it in, or steals the wheel or whatever, they've got your CC and will charge it.
County operated bus, $3.50 for adults from anywhere in the city to anywhere in the city.
On one hand the bus only runs hourly and in theory it can take an hour to get from somewhere to anywhere plus statistical average delay before pickup of half hour, means 90 minutes, and the city is only about 4 miles on a side, so figure average walking trip length of 2 miles, if you can walk faster than 1.3 MPH then walking is faster than the bus. Which is why the bus system is mostly elderly people who can't walk, and a mobile homeless shelter. I think 8 MPH is reasonable for mostly non-sweaty bicycling (admittedly not today) so figure 15 minute average trip length.
The other hand is the county bus service has a written service obligation that all postal addresses are within X feet of a bus stop where X is like 500 feet, so if you're elderly you're guaranteed to never walk more than 1000 feet although in practice its almost always immensely less, whereas I'm a little fuzzy where you can catch a bike; AFAIK its not very convenient at all.
The bus is usable something like 18 hrs/day 365 days a year regardless of rain, cold, heat, personal handicap, number of shopping bags, and ironically all the bumpers have bicycle racks so you can take your bike. Given the local climate, the bikes are comfy and fun for about 10% of the year, the remainder being rainy, too hot, or too cold.
I'm kinda struggling to see how these places are staying in business aside from the usual financial bubble type of stuff.
As a side note, Uber seems to have destroyed the local taxi companies, although Uber Fare Estimator just gave me prices ranging from $8.56 to $20 to drive across my city from the hospital on one end to the stripmall bank on the other side. I suppose for NYC or Chicago that would be cheap, but "five bucks a mile" sounds insanely expensive. Possibly Uber was cheaper before the taxi companies were destroyed, much like walmart was cheap until it killed the local competition. I'm sure Uber would be by far the fastest mode of transportation short of owning your own car, but if you're spending $10 to commute two miles, you're rich enough to afford a nice car. My car costs like 50 cents per mile and even my wife's nice new van is less than a buck per mile. I mean, we're pretty wealthy but we're not wealthy enough to take Uber. Kinda like stuff from walmart falls apart instantly such that we're not rich enough to shop at walmart, we go to Target or my wife goes to these designer stores at the mall. Being able to afford Uber (or walmart, or the public bus system, or bike rental) is definitely a rich white guy privilege, richer than I am, and I'm pretty well off.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @01:17AM
I sometimes use Lyft, and it costs me $12-14 per five miles, or $2.50 per mile, plus or minus. Tipping is optional. It is very good to always be able to get home, no cash needed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @02:23AM
Annual bikeshare subscriptions are $50-100 for unlimited trips under a certain length. You can just dock and use your key again to continue a long trip.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @10:03AM
So, that AngelHack bro reads SN...
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Wednesday July 04 2018, @12:27AM (1 child)
I think it will be a great hit. Share the cost of gifts. Have someone be there when you have other things to do than girlfriend time ;)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @03:10AM
Yep, good upside.
Unfortunate downside, sloppy seconds...
(Score: 2) by https on Wednesday July 04 2018, @04:46AM
It's not "bike share", it's "rental bikes" with the added externality that they don't have to pay rent to park their fleet. Budget Rent-a-Car would kill seventy five people* if meant they could use residential streets as their parking lot.
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* ballpark estimate, may be off by several orders of magnitude per state.
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday July 06 2018, @12:44AM (1 child)
A reasonable car in the US costs say $20k and rents for $250 a week. A reasonable bike (not that share shit) costs say $1000 and rents for the same $250 a week.
Anybody has an explanation why 20 times the difference? Is it gonna converge? Which way?
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 06 2018, @10:27AM
Target market. Same reason I can get an avocado down the market for 80 pence, whereas other people pay £17 for the same avocado elsewhere. (I'm a clean-shaven homeowner with no tattoos.)