Skip to main content

Lyft to buy bike-share group PBSC

Ride-hailing giant is keen to make further inroads into docked micromobility market
By Adam Hill April 21, 2022 Read time: 1 min
Lyft has expanded from ride-hailing with ventures such as New York's Citi Bike (© Andreistanescu | Dreamstime.com)

Lyft is to buy bike-share group PBSC Urban Solutions, doubling the ride-hailing firm's footprint in micromobility - and all in the docked, rather than floating, market.

Since 2008, PBSC has deployed 7,500 stations and 95,000 bikes to 45 markets and 15 countries.

The acquisition of PBSC is expected to close by the end of June; David Foster, head of transit, bikes and scooters at Lyft, said it would "help us deliver world-class products and experiences to riders in the largest cities around the world in the coming decade".

Luc Sabbatini, president and CEO of PBSC, called it a "huge development and opportunity".

"There is a clear alignment of values, complementarity of skills and products and a unique worldwide footprint," he added.

While Lyft has been primarily known as a ride-hailing entity it has significant interest in micromobility: in New York, it has doubled the size of its Citi Bike flagship from 12,000 bikes to over 24,000.

In 2018, it acquired Motivate - which with PBSC was involved in forming the Bixi System in Montréal.

The pitch to users from Lyft and PBSC is that docking stations "create predictability and order in the public right of way for pedestrians".

They say their experience "can support cities’ efforts to reclaim public space for residents". 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The real case for driverless mobility
    May 13, 2024
    What will automated driving really be good for? Bern Grush of Urban Robotics Foundation offers his thoughts on the big issues around its implementation - and suggests a newly-published book might point the way forward
  • Women driving innovation in mobility
    March 9, 2022
    Transportation was built through the lens of men: that ecosystem needs to change
  • Melbourne and bike-share firm oBike part ways
    June 20, 2018
    Singapore-based bicycle-share firm oBike has “temporarily withdrawn” from Melbourne, according to city authorities. Unlike many other bike-share schemes worldwide, oBike has no docking stations – and this has meant that oBikes have been abandoned around the city by users. Pictures of the distinctive yellow bikes in trees, on bus shelters and in the Yarra river circulated widely on social media. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the city and the company says that oBike is responsible for ensu
  • Parifex speed cameras: picture perfect
    September 30, 2020
    From speed cameras to smart cities, image processing and AI – Parifex is not short of ambition. Nathalie Deguen tells Adam Hill where the French company is heading next