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Uber to buy electric bicycle-sharing firm Jump

| Updated: April 11, 2018 18:03:31


BBC/File Photo BBC/File Photo

Uber users around the world may soon be able to hire electric bicycles through the app, after the ride-sharing firm bought US bike-hire firm Jump.

Based in New York, Jump allows riders to rent electric-powered "pedal assist" bikes via an online platform.

Its bikes are also dockless and do not need to be returned to a specific place.

Uber, which already has a tie-up with Jump in San Francisco, said it would now look to "scale" the bikes globally.

Uber chief Dara Khosrowshahi said: "We're committed to bringing together multiple modes of transportation within the Uber app - so that you can choose the fastest or most affordable way to get where you're going, whether that's in an Uber, on a bike, on the subway, or more."

The bike-sharing market is growing at about 20 per cent a year and is set to be worth between €3.6 billion (£3.1 billion) and €5.3 billion by 2020.

David Bailey, a professor at Aston Business School, told the BBC: "Uber is looking at this partly because it is fast growth area but it is also looking forward to a time when we won't own cars.

"Autonomous cars are coming and in big cities you won't need to own a car in future. You might want to use an Uber taxi but then finish the journey on a bike. So it's about offering multi-modal transport."

Founded in 2008, Jump Bikes has launched conventional bike-sharing schemes in 40 cities across six countries, including Brighton in the UK.

Its e-bikes, which were unveiled last year in Washington DC, cost $2 (£1.40) for the first half-hour, then 7 cents per minute.

The bikes are "pedal assist", meaning their batteries only kick in when you are pedalling.

Users also locate and unlock the cycles with their smartphones and use a built-in lock to secure the bike to a rack at the end of their ride.

Bike-sharing company Jump and ride-hailing service Uber have more in common than you might think. Both join the dots in journeys between traditional lines of public transport.

Deploying a fleet of vehicles is one way to get a passenger from door-to-door. Owning a fleet of electric bicycles offers another. Both companies concentrate their efforts in cities, where governments are keenest to rid the roads of cars.

There are over a thousand different bike-sharing companies currently in operation across the world. The vast majority have yet to turn a profit. Most will fail, reports BBC.

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