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Lyft will integrate Citi Bike in its application for some cyclists in New York. In July, Lyft acquired the Motivate start-up, which specializes in self-service bicycles, and became a unique transportation app in three cities in December. Now, he is ready to do the same thing in New York.
Beginning next month, Lyft customers in New York will be able to unlock CitiBikes via the Lyft app. According to Lyft, New York was chosen as the fourth place after Washington, Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California, because Citi Bike is one of the most popular bike systems. To date, Citi Bike has logged more than 75 million trips with a fleet of more than 12,000 bikes.
Previously, riders needed a special Citi Bike account, but with the Lyft integration, this will no longer be necessary. The caveat is that this is only available to riders who are new to Citi Bike. Existing Citi Bike users can use it, but it's just that those who already have an account will not be able to link their accounts to use the Lyft app to unlock the bikes. But Lyft says it will happen in the next few months.
It should be noted, however, that Lyft had to remove the CitiBike pedal-assist bikes from the road after receiving reports that the brakes were too strong, which caused some people to fall. Lyft also pulled his pedal assist bikes from San Francisco and Washington D.C.
"After a few reports and as a precaution, we're putting our e-bikes on hold," Lyft spokeswoman Julie Wood said in a statement to TechCrunch. "Safety first.
It's unclear when pedal-assisted bikes will return to the CitiBike, Ford GoBike and Capital Bikeshare fleets. Motivate used its first pedal-assisted bikes in San Francisco about a year ago, before deploying them more widely. Currently, Lyft is working with its suppliers and a third-party engineering company to determine the root cause of the problem. The recall concerns about 15% of the available bikes, but Lyft plans to temporarily replace pedal-assisted bikes with conventional bikes. Meanwhile, Lyft is working on her own electric bike model that she will deploy in the near future.
Since the acquisition of Motivate, Lyft has expanded to other areas outside Manhattan and has agreed to invest $ 100 million in the Citi Bike system. Lyft plans to triple the number of motorcycles to 40,000 over the next five years.
Lyft competitor Uber added bikes and scooters to its application last September with the launch of Mode Switch. The idea was to allow people to switch more easily between different modalities.
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