Uber to "Jump" on the E-Bike Bandwagon

Well, looks like Uber has jumped on the e-bike bandwagon! Uber announced last week that the company has acquired dockless electric bikes for people living in cities to rent and share. Now, this is a ten-year-old venture capital-backed startup, meaning Uber bought out Jump Bikes for a rumored value of over $100 million.

But why? Is Uber trying to stay relevant and take advantage of the successful mobility market? Thanks to an article published on

GreenBiz, we can take a closer look at what reasons led to this acquisition.

1. The explosion and evolution of mobility services

Uber continues to pride itself on being a more efficient, organized way of getting around cities. With that said, the idea of riding and sharing bicycles around various large communities has become the new trend. There's something about promoting sustainability and cutting back on carbon emissions that makes you feel good about yourself. And there is nothing wrong with that! In fact, more people should be this environmentally conscious and aware. Hopefully this well-known company can pave the way for other businesses to follow.

2. A bike-sharing land grab

This new trend has become a popular sharing network, which now has multiple companies competing for the same real estate. Jump Bike is not the only e-bike business. There are several companies who have witnessed the success in China and want to partake in this same bike sharing network.

3. The tech

Get this. These e-bikes can be tracked remotely by GPS. Furthermore, sensor systems have been designed to lock and unlock the bikes to avoid people stealing them. Individuals who have wireless networks and mobile apps for the Jump Bikes, can track and find bikes all throughout the city. The bicycles have unique features, such as a motor to help commuters who may have hills in their routes with a little extra power. A noteworthy comment made in the article is that "a regular non-electric bike trip is less than a mile, while an Uber or Lyft trip is about 5 miles." For these Jump Bikes, the average trip is roughly 2.7 miles.

4. High demand for low-cost last mile trips

The company sees about four trips per bike per day. That is pretty amazing considering a lot of these trips are short, yet in the past, they have been executed by car. It has been stated that a bike service as such could actually hurt companies like Uber. On top of this, Uber's growth has been shown to be slowing. Perhaps, Uber sees this possibility and decided to secure a place in this new market while they had a chance.

5. A friendlier, more collaborative Uber

The initial goal of Uber is to "make it easier to live without owning a personal car." This means that Uber is focusing on reducing congestion in urban areas, but even more so, I personally believe the company recognized all of their potential competitors and wanted to do something to obtain competitive advantage.

6. The people

The people behind this dockless bike idea have a vision. A vision to produce a more sustainable, environmentally friendly community. This is something Uber admired.

I can't wait to see what bold and sustainable move Uber makes next... maybe UberEats will be provided via bike service in the future!

McKenzie T.