bike-sharing
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An e-bike sharing company co-founded by Usain Bolt appears to have shut down
An e-bike- startup co-founded by Olympian Usain Bolt appears to have shut down operations, highlighting recent problems in the micromobility sector.
Google Maps integrates bike-share locations with navigation
Google Maps has offered directions specifically for bikes for years now, and the app also can show you where to find bike-sharing locations. Today, Google is mashing those two options together and showing docked bikeshare info in the directions — if you don’t have your own bike, it’ll route you to the nearest bike-sharing location and include the closest drop-off spot to your final destination as well. Basically, it combines walking directions to and from the bike pick-up and drop-off with the best biking route.
Lime brings Jump bikes back to London
Lime is bringing Jump bikes back to London.
Bike-sharing startup Wheels offers discounts if riders use its helmets
Bike sharing schemes make it convenient to rent a bicycle for a short trip, but they can give rise to safety concerns as riders aren't provided with protective equipment like helmets. To tackle this issue, bike share company Wheels is introducing helmets to go with its bicycles.
Lyft expands bike rentals to Washington DC
Lyft has expanded beyond traditional rideshare and into other areas like car rentals and transport to and from events. Now, it is updating its app to provide bike-sharing services in the Washington, DC area through Capital Bikeshare, joining New York and San Francisco in offering both cycles and cars from a single app.
Lyft renames its Bay Area bike-sharing program Bay Wheels
Today, Lyft is renaming its Bay Area bike share system. It's now Bay Wheels, no longer Ford GoBike. As part of the transition, the company is introducing new e-bikes with pedal assist for hills and the option to dock the bikes or lock them outside of a station. According to a press release, riders will be able to access the bikes with just two taps in the Lyft app.
Lyft sues San Francisco to block rival bike-sharing services
It looks like San Francisco's call for applications to expand its dockless bicycle program didn't sit well with Lyft. The company has just filed a lawsuit against the California city, seeking an injunction that would prohibit SF from giving its rivals permission to operate. Lyft claims that giving other companies a permit will violate the 10-year exclusivity agreement Ford GoBike -- previously operated by Motivate, which Lyft eventually purchased -- signed with San Francisco. The ride-hailing firm says the deal gives it exclusive rights to run bike-share services in the city, but local authorities are saying otherwise.
You can now rent a Citi Bike through the Lyft app in NYC
Lyft users in New York and Jersey City can now rent a Citi Bike on the app. After some beta-testing with 20 percent of users, Lyft has now fully-integrated Citi Bike onto its mobile app. Lyft users won't need a Citi Bike account to locate or rent a bike. The announcement comes nearly a year after Lyft bought Motivate, the company that owns Citi Bike, in a bid to become an all-purpose transportation company with options for cars, bikes and electric scooters. Lyft already operates bike-sharing programs in Washington, DC and the San Francisco Bay Area, so app integration with those cities is likely forthcoming.
Lyft adds New York’s Citi Bikes to its app
Beginning in May, Lyft customers in New York City will be able to use Citi Bikes through the ridesharing app. Users won't need a separate account or login to locate or unlock the bikes. The Lyft app will automatically show how many bikes are available at nearby stations. When users are ready to ride, they'll receive a five-digit code, which they can enter in any dock at a given station to release the bike of their choice. Both of the services are popular on their own, so together, they could have a meaningful impact on transportation in New York.
Lyft removes e-bikes from various cities over unexpectedly strong brakes
Lyft-owned bike-sharing services are removing electric bikes from their respective fleets in New York, Washington and San Francisco citing safety concerns. Citi Bike, Capital Bikeshare, and Ford GoBike recalled the e-bikes after "a small number" of users experienced "stronger than expected braking force on the front wheel." The New York Times reports that "dozens" of Citi Bike riders in NYC have reported injuries while riding the e-bikes, prompting the company to pull 1,000 electric bicycles from the streets.
People won't stop stealing this company's rentable umbrellas
Sharing E Umbrella, a Chinese startup that allows people to share umbrellas as they would bicycles has run into some early problems with its business model: specifically, people don't bother to return the items once they are out of the rain. According to a report in the Thepaper.cn last Thursday, the company announced that most of its umbrellas had gone missing within just weeks of the sharing scheme's launch.
BitLock offers a bring-your-own-bicycle approach to bike sharing
Unless you're an enraged motorist, there's plenty of good to be found in the current push for big city bike sharing programs. BitLock is certainly in keeping with the spirit of such initiatives, albeit on a much more localized scale. The proposed product is essentially a standard bike U-lock that communicates with Android and iOS devices -- get within proximity and click the unlock button on an approved handset and the BitLock opens up for you. The device is, thankfully, weather-resistant and has a battery that should last up to five years, according to claims (and you'll get a notification on your phone when it's finally ready to shuffle off this mortal coil). What's more interesting here, however, is that the device is being couched as a form of low-entry bike sharing, as you can have multiple users sign up for a single lock. The app will note where the bike is left on a map, so you or a pal with access can locate it later -- and GPS also gives the app some health-tracking capabilities, which are all the rage. The locks, not surprisingly, won't be cheap -- the base Kickstarter pledge to get your hands on one is $89, and the proposed retail price is $140. That's $55 more than an annual Citi Bike membership, for you New Yorkers keeping track.
Social Bicycles announces availability by end of summer, we go hands-on (video)
When last saw the Social Bicycles (SoBi), there wasn't a heck of a lot to report on. The whole thing was little more than a concept, a Kickstarter page and an early prototype. Flash forward just under a year later, and it's beginning to look a lot like a real, consumer-facing product. The New York startup showed off its bike and a couple of apps today at TechCrunch Disrupt. The concept here is not too dissimilar from a Zipcar -- you locate a bike using the Android or iOS app, find it on the street, enter your PIN, pull out the lock and you're good to go. If you're feeling particularly enterprising, you can can pick up bikes to rent up for $1,300 a piece, if you order less than 50 or $1,100 per, if you go for more. The wireless data, meanwhile, runs $15 per bike, per month. The company has both consumer and business-facing apps. On the administrative side of things, you can track the bikes and set boundaries for return. Incentive programs are set up, giving customers credits, should they do something like get a bike from outside a designated hub and return it to one.
NTT DoCoMo Shared Bicycle Initiative hands-on (video)
Well, NTT DoCoMo is at it again, this time dabbling in the fine art of bicycle sharing. The Japanese mobile carrier's own flavor is currently undergoing beta testing in Yokohama, just outside Tokyo, and uses a familiar kiosk system to collect and dish out bikes. Residents (and tourists with Japanese cell phone numbers) can rent bikes 30 minutes at a time for 105 Yen (about $1.40) for the first half hour, then 210 Yen for each subsequent period. You also rent bikes by the month for 1,050 Yen (about $14). Overall, this implementation doesn't appear to be different than what's already been installed in some US and European cities, but it's apparently a first for the Tokyo area. The next iteration is far more exciting, however. Rather than visiting a kiosk to rent a bike, you'll be able to use a smartphone app to locate some available wheels, with position information broadcast by a built-in GPS. Once you find a bike you want to rent, the system will send an unlock code to your handset, which you'll enter into a handlebar-mounted PIN pad. The current prototype is an e-bike, though future models may not include pedal assist, since swapping out batteries could be a logistical nightmare for maintenance crews. The bike can be left anywhere (within a predetermined area, we presume), and is immobilized using a rear tire lock. Locking the back tire to prevent theft (if a lock is used at all) is a trick that definitely only works in Japan -- you can't leave a bike unattended for five minutes in New York City without it disappearing, even with a wheel lock. Conceptually, the system appears to be very similar to the Social Bicycles model that we wrote about earlier this summer as part of our Insert Coin series, though that US-based prototype includes a u-style lock, for securing the bike to a post or tree. We'd love to see either concept hit production soon, and if the Yokohama trial goes off without a hitch, then a standalone counterpart will definitely have a better chance of becoming a reality. So go rent some bikes! And jump past the break for a look at both systems at CEATEC Japan.%Gallery-135630%
Insert Coin: Social Bicycles bike sharing system (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. It's been a year since we last heard about Social Bicycles (SoBi), the bike sharing concept that has potential to revolutionize the way we rent, ride, and lock bikes. Now the New York-based startup is working on a very promising second prototype, and is turning to Kickstarter for funding. The new version is still a few weeks out (that's a rendered version in the image above), but we pedaled over to SoBi HQ in Brooklyn to take a look at the first model, which is already far more efficient than systems we've seen implemented in Europe and select US cities, including Denver. Both versions feature a main rear-mounted lock unit, containing a U-lock, rear wheel immobilizer, GPS tracking chip, GSM modem, and a hub dynamo electrical generator. The new version's unit will be much more compact, two-thirds lighter, and will include an integrated solar panel for keeping the electronics powered up even when the bike isn't moving.%Gallery-127369% SoBi interfaces with a mobile app, which lets you locate and unlock unreserved bikes around the city (you'll use your PIN to control the lock during the reservation period). Users pay a monthly fee to subscribe, which will include an hour of free riding each day. The system implements a clever financial incentive to have bikes returned to strategically located hubs, charging a fee for users who prefer to leave bikes elsewhere, then offering the same amount as a credit for riders who rent that bike and return it to a hub. Because the SoBi will be a rental service and you won't be buying a bike to own, early supporters will receive a future credit in exchange for a Kickstarter donation. Donations of $50 or more also include a slick AR-enabled t-shirt, which displays a "3D" model of the bike on your mobile device. Jump past the break for a hands-on with the first Social Bicycle, and a behind-the-scenes look at the company's shared workshop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Social Bicycles bike sharing system powered by iPhone app to hit NYC this fall
Social Bicycles is a bike sharing system with a twist. Using an iPhone app, the system allows users to drop off, locate, and borrow a bike nearly anywhere. The bikes are equipped with a GPS device which is locked to one of the wheels, and when the bike is locked, it's locatable using the app, so that someone can borrow it; when it's in use and unlocked, it doesn't appear in the app. The real upside to Social Bicycles is that the regular infrastructure required for bike lending systems -- such as docking stations in a lot of convenient locations -- are unnecessary with this system, which can get by with regular old bike racks, making it a much cheaper, fly-by-night option. It's coming to New York City in very limited beta this fall, and we expect it to outperform Segs in the City in no time. Video is below.
