Lyft reportedly near deal for bike-sharing company Motivate
Lyft is reportedly closing in on a deal that would give it a jump on Uber is the bike-sharing arena.
The ride-sharing company and Motivate, which runs some of the largest bike-share programs in the U.S., have reached terms on an accord that's likely worth $250 million or more, according to the Information, which cites two people briefed on the acquisition.
While not yet finalized, the deal would have Lyft entering the rapidly growing bike-sharing market in a major way. Motivate runs bike-sharing programs in a number of cities, including CitiBike in New York as well as the Ford GoBike in Lyft's home town of San Francisco.
Uber acquired the electric bike company Jump in April, and Motivate recently introduced electric bikes to its options and has been looking into dockless bike-sharing, according to the report.
Lyft and Uber are also competing in the scooter-sharing market.
In an email, Lyft declined to comment, and Motivate did not immediately return a request for comment.
Bike sharing, according to Wikipedia, "is a service in which bicycles are made available for shared use to individuals on a short term basis for a price or free. Many bike share systems allow people to borrow a bike from a "dock" and return it at another dock belong to the same system."