Uber to redirect focus to bikes and electric scooters

Uber intends to focus more on its electric scooter and bike business as it says individual modes of transport are better-suited to inner city travel. Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, believes users will make more frequent, shorter journeys in the future, the Financial Times reports. "During rush hour, it is very inefficient for a one-tonne hulk of metal to take one person ten blocks,” he says. Uber’s Jump electric bikes are now available in eight US cities such as San Francisco and Washington DC, and are
August 28, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

8336 Uber intends to focus more on its electric scooter and bike business as it says individual modes of transport are better-suited to inner city travel.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, believes users will make more frequent, shorter journeys in the future, the %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Financial Times Financial Times website link false https://www.ft.com/content/986d878a-a7c4-11e8-8ecf-a7ae1beff35b false false%> reports.

"During rush hour, it is very inefficient for a one-tonne hulk of metal to take one person ten blocks,” he says.

Uber’s Jump electric bikes are now available in eight US cities such as San Francisco and Washington DC, and are set to launch in Berlin.

The ride-sharing company has also joined forces with electric scooter company Lime.

Khosrowshahi recognises that Uber makes more money from a car journey than a bike trip - but says this would be offset as users engage with the app more regularly for shorter journeys.
"We are willing to trade off short-term per-unit economics for long-term higher engagement."

The move comes as Uber announced it was to supply its proprietary self-driving system to %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Toyota Sienna Minivans Uber website link false https://www.uber.com/newsroom/uber-toyota-team-self-driving-cars/ false false%>. “Rather than owning and operating the fleet of self-driving vehicles, these minivans will be owned and operated by an agreed upon third party, a new business model for Uber,” the company said in a statement.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • First European conference on sustainable urban mobility plans
    April 17, 2014
    The first European Conference on sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs), entitled Planning for a Liveable City, will be held in Sopot, Poland, on 12-13 June 2014. A sustainable urban mobility plan is a strategic plan designed to satisfy the mobility needs of people and businesses in cities and their surroundings for a better quality of life. The concept of sustainable urban mobility plans has gained considerable momentum in recent years. Many cities across Europe are currently working to integrate thi
    Read More
  • Truvelo presents vehicle active sign with enhanced graphics
    March 21, 2018
    Truvelo is showcasing its Trusign vehicle-activated sign for speed compliance and traffic management and the Check Point System for spot/section speed measurement and journey time data-gathering activities, at Intertraffic. Trusign can be deployed in and around industrial and residential areas to help promote compliance with posted speed limits.
    Read More
  • SVS-Vistek unveils ultra-high resolution camera
    March 21, 2018
    SVS-Vistek is showcasing a new, ultra-high resolution camera capable of taking photographs of up to 120 megapixels for ANPR purposes. The camera’s resolution is so great that it can be placed some distance from the scene – at the top of a high building, for example – and carry out ANPR surveillance over several streets simultaneously. Speed or red light enforcement are among the potential uses. The typical range of cameras used for ANPR purposes is five to 20 megapixels.
    Read More
  • MKM Mobilitas installs Tritium fast charger in Budapest
    November 20, 2018
    NKM Mobilitas has installed a Tritium liquid-cooled DC fast charger for electric vehicles (EV) at the Koki Terminál P+R, a parking facility in Budapest. NKM Mobilitas is a subsidiary of National Utilities, the state Hungarian provider which supplies gas and electricity to households in the country. Tritium’s Veefil-RT 50kW DC fast charger is expected to provide NKM Mobilitas’ customers with 125km of range in 30 minutes. The solution offers Chademo and CCS connectors as well as an interface and inte
    Read More

Highlighted Content