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

  • March 2, 2018
    Mark L. Reuss confirmed as ITS America keynote speaker
    ITS America has added executive vice president, General Motors (GM), Mark L. Reuss as a keynote speaker on 06 June 2018 at the conference, in Detroit. He leads the design, engineering, safety, quality, research and development, advanced vehicle technology and program management of the company's cars, trucks and crossovers around the world. In addition, Reuss oversees GM’s Global purchasing and supply chain organisation, and is a member of its executive leadership team and the board of Shanghai General
    Read More
  • September 30, 2019
    Masabi: bespoke tech is holding transit agencies back
    Sixty per cent of transit agencies looking to use account-based ticketing are struggling with bespoke technology which is slow to deploy and costly to maintain, claims Masabi. Masabi CEO Brian Zanghi says agencies have been “denied access” to systems that keep pace with technology in a cost-effective way and have had to invest in bespoke automatic fare collection (AFC) systems. “This has led to limited innovation with some agencies able to purchase the latest systems but leaving many underserved and left
    Read More
  • August 21, 2014
    call PSAP workshop
    Ertico-ITS Europe has announced the date of its eCall Way Forward, PSAP Workshop. This workshop will address the technical and operational issues surrounding the upgrade of Member State Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to effectively deal with all forms of eCall. The event is for Ertico Partners only (and special guests) and will be held at the ERTICO premises in Brussels on 3 September 2014 from 1000 to 1630. To register, please click on the following link
    Read More
  • October 1, 2018
    MaaS to replace 2.3bn annual car journeys by 2023, says Juniper
    Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platforms will replace over 2.3 billion urban private car journeys by 2023, according to new research. This compares with 17.6 million globally in 2018. According to the study from Juniper Research, western Europe will account for 83% of global MaaS trips in 2023. Mobility-as-a-Service: Emerging Opportunities, Vendor Strategies & Market Forecasts 2018-2023 says Helsinki, Finland, will lead MaaS implementation, followed by Stockholm, Sweden and Vienna, Austria.
    Read More

Highlighted Content