Lyft is getting out of the business of stand-alone dockless bikes and scooters, and focusing on helping cities like Toronto develop their urban transit systems.
What happened: Lyft’s micromobility business is combining its bike and station provider PBSC Urban Solutions, which sells to local operators and cities in 49 markets, with its eight bike and scooter share programs, like Citi Bike in New York City.
- Lyft’s bike and scooter rides made up 8% of the platform's total rides last year, while the number of e-bike rides that were facilitated by the company jumped 65%.
- The company is investing more in its equipment and infrastructure to build a full micromobility transit system for big cities.
Why it matters: Canadians are taking a record number of trips on bikes and e-scooters these days, but the director of Bike Share Toronto recently said the biggest problem facing these programs is that there aren’t enough bikes and docks to keep up with the demand.
Bottom line: Turns out, the future of micromobility might not be dumping hundreds of rogue bikes and e-scooters on a city’s streets, but partnering with cities to build the infrastructure to run their own successful programs.—LA