Uber buys on-demand bike-sharing firm Jump
The bike app had been part of a pilot scheme with Uber in San Francisco.
Uber has announced its purchase of bike-sharing platform Jump, which offers users access to electric bikes.
The ride-sharing firm was already supporting the company by offering Jump services inside the Uber app as part of a pilot in San Francisco, but had now acquired the company.
Writing in a blog post on the Uber website, chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said: “At Uber, we’re focused on championing smart technology for smart cities.
“Today, we help tens of millions of people get a ride at the tap of a button.
“But our ultimate goal is one we share with cities around the world: making it easier to live without owning a personal car. Achieving that goal ultimately means improving urban life by reducing congestion, pollution and the need for parking spaces.
Jump’s platform does not use its own bike racks, instead they are designed to lock to existing bike racks in urban areas, and can therefore be picked up and dropped off at a wide range of locations.
Mr Khosrowshahi described the platform as a “stellar product”.
Jump currently operates in San Francisco and Washington DC, and Uber did not confirm if and when it would begin to more widely roll out Jump’s bikes to more cites in the US and beyond.
