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.

UTC

Related Content

  • December 20, 2017
    UK freight trains to be upgraded with European Train Control Systems
    Network Rail has contracted Siemens Rail Automation to install European Train Control System (ETCS) in-cab signalling on 750 of the UK's heaviest locomotives to improve safety and provide better use of the network with plans to retrofit the entire fleet in 2022. This technology forms part of the country's Digital Railway programme, and the government has invested £450m ($602m) as part of its National Productivity Fund. For the first phase, Siemens will install its Trainguard 200 (T200) ETCS on-board
    Read More
  • March 20, 2018
    Nu-phalt acquires Jetpatcher New Zealand
    Nu-phalt now has comprehensive Innovative Patching solutions for every country with its Thermal Repairs and Jetpatcher’s Spary Injection Patching, following an agreement between the two companies ahead of Intertraffic. The partners will work with UK and oversees clients to continue to offer better value bespoke products to the market place. Steve Smith, managing director of the Nu-phalt, said: “We have invested a lot of time and expense into developing a range of innovative patching solutions for the
    Read More
  • April 16, 2019
    Honeywell and Volocopter sign air taxi testing deal
    German urban air taxi manufacturer Volocopter has signed a deal with Honeywell to jointly develop new navigation and automatic landing systems. They will be used on Volocopter’s vertical take-off and landing aircraft - perhaps as early as this year, the companies suggest. “A key goal of our collaboration is to fly a Honeywell inertial measurement-based attitude reference system solution in one of our Volocopters in 2019,” says Jan Hendrik Boelens, chief technology officer, Volocopter. Urban air mob
    Read More
  • April 5, 2017
    The bus is the future, says Swedish transport operator in its latest ad
    Swedish public transport company Västtrafik has devised a different advertising campaign to encourage more car drivers to take the bus. The campaign film mimics the way the car industry advertises its new car launches, using buzzwords such as electric, sustainable, delegated driving, with dramatic music, lighting and quick cuts between images. In the end, however, a bus is revealed as the ‘mobility of the future’ with the offer of a free two-week test drive.
    Read More

Highlighted Content