Jun 22, 2018 - Energy & Climate

Uber and Lyft won't necessarily win the scooter war

Kia Kokalitcheva

Bird and Spin scooters in San Francisco. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Uber's partnership earlier this year with bike-share company Jump did not directly produce much ridership growth for Jump, which it later acquired, sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: Startups offering only e-scooters or bikes may be able to survive pending competition from integrated transportation giants like Uber and Lyft.

The Uber-Jump partnership let people in San Francisco book Jump rides via Uber's app. Per sources:

The initial deal included a provision that Uber would earn a 10-15% stake in Jump if it generated a certain level of ridership for the bike-share company. But Uber didn't get close to those numbers prior to the acquisition.
Instead, Jump’s bright red bikes were eye-catching enough for passersby to spot them, download Jump's app, and take a ride.
Mitigating factors could be the short period of time prior to acquisition, and that Uber limited the number of rides because there were only 250 available Jump bikes in the city.

An Uber spokesman declined comment.

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Uber and Lyft won't necessarily win the scooter war

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