JUMP Bikes to launch dockless, electric bikeshare in San Francisco

The 18-month pilot program will ultimately deploy up to 500 electric bicycles onto the streets

SAN FRANCISCO >> Beginning Thursday, residents and visitors to San Francisco will have a new option for commuting and tooling about the city: dockless, electric bikes.

JUMP Bikes is the latest company to enter the Bay Area market for short, one-way rentals and quick bicycle trips. The startup, an outgrowth of the New Yorkbased Social Bicycles, first landed in San Francisco in June, deploying 50 bicycles for a roughly fourmonth study of shared vehicles with researchers at UC Berkeley.

That study ended in October, said JUMP Bikes CEO and founder Ryan Rzepecki. But, just last week, the company won the sole permit to begin the city’s first stationless bikeshare program with JUMP Bikes’ electric bicycles.

The launch follows on the heels of two announcements last week: Both Ford GoBike, the largest bikeshare provider in the Bay Area, and LimeBike, which operates a dockless bikeshare network in Alameda and South San Francisco, said they would begin offering electric bicycles as part of their fleets. LimeBike will deploy its electric bikes in late January or early February, and Ford GoBike will roll its out sometime in April.

The JUMP Bikes pilot program is designed to last 18 months, Rzepecki said, and will give the company a chance to iron out kinks in its operating model.

It’ll also give the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) some time to determine how to regulate the stationless shared bikes, which, in some areas, have become a public nuisance with bicycles piled up on sidewalks, blocking the rightof-way.

Unlike Ford GoBike, which require users to return the bikes to specified docking stations throughout the city, JUMP Bikes allow users to park the bikes at any bike rack or utility pole. The bikes come equipped with U-locks that riders must secure to a stationary object, and that keeps them from getting dumped where people are trying to walk, Rzepecki said.

The permit allows JUMP Bikes to deploy 250 bikes in the first nine months and 250 more in the second nine months. The company will match Ford GoBike’s low-income discount, which offers a $5 annual membership in the first year and $5 per month after that for customers who qualify for certain assistance programs.

Initially, the company plans to charge the electric bicycles at a warehouse in San Francisco, though ultimately, Rzepecki said he hopes to have designated charging stations where users can return the bikes and have them power up automatically.

It’s unclear what will happen to the bikes once the pilot ends, though. Motivate, the company operating Ford GoBike, has an exclusive operating agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville and San Jose, where the bikes

are located.

Still, Rzepecki said he expects the pilot program to be invaluable as the company collects information about its users. Already, he said JUMP Bikes is eyeing San Mateo as a possible Bay Area market, and has its sights on other Northern California locations, including Santa Cruz, Davis and Sacramento.

And, if he’s learned anything so far, Rzepecki said it’s that the electric assistance does help riders conquer some of San Francisco’s steepest hills, even if a little panting and sweat is involved.

“Our goal is to deliver something that riders find to be amazing,” Rzepecki said. “If we deliver a solution that’s low cost and affordable and they feel superhuman while riding, we’ll be able to create enough momentum to expand.”