You know how Uber works. You use the app, pick where you want to go and where to be picked up, and voila someone is coming to get you. Easy right?
Well now there’s going to be more to it.
Uber announced yesterday that it is acquiring Jump, a bike-sharing service.
Jump partnered with Uber to offer pedal-assist battery-powered electric bikes through its app to select users in San Francisco. And now Uber is going all in. The long-term deal was not disclosed, but TechCrunch reported it could be worth more than $100 million.
One hundred Jump employees will join the Uber team. This is in hopes of potentially launching the bike service globally. Currently, Jump is only offered in San Francisco and Washington D.C.
“Our ultimate goal is one we share with cities around the world: making it easier to live without owning a personal car,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a blog post. “That’s why we’re committed to bringing together multiple modes of transportation within the Uber app—so that you can choose the fastest or more affordable way to get where you’re going, whether that’s in an Uber, on a bike, on the subway, or more.”
Khosrowshahi called Jump “a perfect fit” with Uber’s already set core of transportation methods.
“The utilization of the bikes has been higher than expected,” Khosrowshahi said. “People are using these bikes for multiple trips a day.”
This all comes after studies have found that Uber and similar companies are increasing congestion in cities rather than decreasing it, as was hoped. This seems to be because people who would use buses, subways, bikes, or simply walk are now getting in cars due to the simplicity and easy access.