Uber just bought Jump, an electric bike sharing company. But the two companies had been working together for more than two months to integrate the bike option on the Uber app — well before the acquisition announcement was made on Monday.
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Welcome to the family @JumpMobility! One step closer to our vision of bringing together multiple modes of transportation within the Uber app.
— Uber (@Uber) April 9, 2018
Jump Bikes began in 2010 under the name Social Bicycles. They were founded in New York, and provided the first dockless and shareable bikes in the industry. Unlike Citi Bikes, these bikes don’t need to be docked on a special port for them to work, giving users much more freedom when it comes to traveling. This marks a new era for Uber, where they take a leap into a new industry that’s rumored to be very important in the near future.
According to The Verge, there was a lot of competition to purchase the bike company. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi claims that this partnership is meant to develop Uber further, “bringing together multiple modes of transportation within the Uber app—so that you can choose the fastest or most affordable way to get where you’re going, whether that’s in an Uber, on a bike, on the subway, or more.”
This new partnership will give Uber access to Jump Bikes located all over the country with the goal of enlarging the amount of bikes and including more cities into their business plan.
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Jump Bikes are designed with a built-in motor to easily travel large cities, and a U bar lock that allows the bikes to be locked onto racks, light poles and benches. People who are using the bikes through the Uber app only need to lock the bikes onto the app’s “bike zone”, which is displayed on the Uber map, so other people can find the bikes with ease and reuse them.
