Skip to main content

Ride-hailing firm Lyft highlights new bike-share service

Lyft, the ride-hailing firm which rivals Uber, has shown off the distinctive, pink-tyred bicycles which it is to use in its new bike-share programme. The company has completed its acquisition of US bike-share giant Motivate, which was announced in the summer, and will branch into two-wheel journeys soon. The company says this represents a “natural extension of Lyft’s vision to improve transportation access, sustainability and affordability”. Lyft says that 80% of all bike-share rides in the US were co
December 5, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
8789 Lyft, the ride-hailing firm which rivals 8336 Uber, has shown off the distinctive, pink-tyred bicycles which it is to use in its new bike-share programme.


The company has completed its acquisition of US bike-share giant Motivate, which was announced in the summer, and will branch into two-wheel journeys soon. The company says this represents a “natural extension of Lyft’s vision to improve transportation access, sustainability and affordability”.

Lyft says that 80% of all bike-share rides in the US were completed on Motivate systems last year. New York mayor Bill de Blasio announced this week that the city and Lyft will be tripling the size of the Citi Bike initiative to 40,000 bikes.

Motivate is behind a number of other bike-share systems, including: Ford GoBike (San Francisco), Divvy (Chicago), Bluebikes (Boston), Capital Bikeshare (Washington, DC), BIKETOWN (Portland), CoGo (Columbus, Ohio) and Nice Ride (Minneapolis).

The bikes will be added to Lyft’s transit app. In a statement, the firm said: “We’ve only started to scratch the surface of what’s possible in shifting as a society from car trips to bike trips. With this acquisition, we are poised to help take bikeshare to the next level: adding thousands of bikes and stations in communities that haven’t had access to transportation; making bikeshare membership more convenient and affordable than ever; and deploying new electric bikes, on a major scale.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Via offers on-demand shared transit for Massachusetts seniors
    June 27, 2019
    Via has launched an on-demand shared transit system for people over the age of 60 in the City of Newton, Massachusetts. Via says the service replaces a taxi voucher system which required passengers to make reservations at least 72 hours in advance. The company will also offer trips to a range of medical facilities outside the city’s boundaries. Using the Via app, riders can hail a vehicle from their smartphone. The company’s algorithms allow riders to share the vehicle and directs users to a nearby pick-
  • London mayor awards major funding for cycling improvements
    January 23, 2014
    The Mayor and Transport for London have awarded over US$26 million to boroughs across London so they can make key cycling improvements in their local areas. The money, which will be made available over three years, will enable boroughs to deliver measures to help increase the take up of cycling and make London more easily accessible and safe on two-wheels. Thousands of cycle parking spaces will be installed across London, with more than 5,000 delivered in Kensington & Chelsea and Waltham Forest al
  • Dundee trial offers insight into delivering MaaS in smaller urban and rural areas
    March 27, 2018
    A MaaS trial in Scotland will evaluate the attraction of such services for young people living in small cities and rural areas. Colin Sowman reports. It is often said that Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is fine in big cities - but what about smaller towns and rural areas? Well, the city of Dundee in Scotland has only around 150,000 people but is set to provide some answers with its trial of NaviGoGo, a MaaS operation aimed at 16-25 year olds – be they students, working or unemployed. By population, Dundee
  • Manchester seeks smart but not selective transport solutions
    January 25, 2018
    Smarter transport relies on better communications both with travellers and between transport providers. Andrew Williams reports. Inrix’s prediction that the cost of traffic congestion will rise by 63% to £21bn per year by 2030 clearly illustrates that, in addition to the ongoing inconvenience and inefficiency, ongoing gridlock is a significant drain on the economy. It is against this backdrop that a Cisco-led consortium has launched CitySpire, a smart transport programme that uses location-based services a