Uber is not just for hailing rides anymore
Days after acquiring e-bike startup Jump, Uber announced Wednesday that Washington users can now rent the company’s pedal-assist bikes straight from the Uber app. You can reserve, unlock and pay for Jump bikes the same way you hail a ride.
It’s part of an aggressive push Uber is making to position itself as a general mobility platform, rather than the simple ride-hailing app that propelled it into a $70-billion commodity. D.C. becomes the second city after San Francisco to receive Jump integration through the program known as Uber Bike. The company also says a Jump fleet expansion is in the works, allowing the e-bike start-up’s local head count to grow from 200 to 400 bikes — the maximum allowed under D.C.’s dockless bike-share pilot. An exact timeline for the fleet expansion is unknown.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is expected to appear on a panel with D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser on Wednesday to announce the Jump integration news, along with two other new initiatives, and illustrate the company’s vision for the “Future of Mobility,” in a discussion that includes Harvard Kennedy School professor Stephen Goldsmith and moderator Robert Puentes, president of the nonprofit Eno Center for Transportation.
“Through our technology and innovation, Uber has begun to change the way cities move,” Khosrowshahi said in a blog post on Uber’s website Wednesday. “We share many of the same goals as the 600 cities we serve, and are committed to addressing the same challenges: Reducing individual car ownership, expanding transportation access and helping governments plan future transportation investments.”
(Washington Post owner Jeffrey P. Bezos is an Uber investor.)
Uber attested to Jump’s utility in its blog post Wednesday, saying the bikes offer a “convenient and environmentally friendly ride that’s often faster, especially in dense cities where space is limited and roads can be congested.”
Biking advocates and transit wonks tend to agree. Greater Greater Washington’s David Alpert declared in a prescient blog post in November: “It’s not a bike, it’s a bike-shaped Uber that says ‘JUMP.’ ”
The ride-hailing giant declined this week to specify the terms of the Jump acquisition, but in a post before the sale was completed last week, TechCrunch reported the cost could exceed US$100 million.
Jump won’t appear in the traditional carousel of Uber options such as UberPOOL and UberX; Riders can access the Jump map by selecting the ‘Bike’ option in Uber’s menu. Regardless, the in-app integration likely means the e-bike service’s ridership will only continue to grow in D.C. where it is already among the most popular bike sharing options. Jump bikes cost $2 per 30-minute ride. Unlike traditional dockless bikes that can be left on available sidewalks, Jump pedalassist bikes must be affixed to bike racks using integrated Ulocks.
Beyond the Jump integration, Uber also announced Wednesday it will partner with car-sharing app Getaround to offer car rentals for riders and drivers within the app. That service will be offered beginning later this month — but only in San Francisco for now, Uber said. Getaround lets users rent private cars from their owners and allows owners to make money on their vehicles when they aren’t using them.