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Lyft on Thursday launched a fleet of electric scooters in Denver, in the booming scooter sharing market, dominated up here by groups like Bird and Lime.
According to a spokesman for the company, Uber is set to deploy its own scooters in Bird's hometown of Santa Monica, California.
Although both companies are synonymous with carpooling, they see a huge potential in scooters and electric bicycles. Appliances, popular with commuters, help reduce congestion and supplement public transit. This could help offset the growing criticism – supported by several studies – that carpooling could drive more traffic as people move from public transit to cars.
"Scooters are a way to make everyday trips more fun and encourage multimodal journeys," said Caroline Samponaro, Lyft's bike and scooter policy officer.
Related: Cities are starting to give a second chance to scooter companies
Wanting to make it even easier for scooters, Lyft will soon be offering anyone who drives his scooters a discount when they start or finish their journey near public transit. Scooters can be found in the Lyft app, and the prices reflect industry standards of $ 1 to unlock a scooter and 15 cents a minute. The company also adds a feature in its application to inform commuters when they are near transit stops.
Uber, who acquired the jump start bikesharing start-up in April, has seen San Francisco cyclists switch from cars to electric bikes, suggesting that carpool giants must expand beyond cars if they do not do not want to see their belongings disappear.
Samponaro said Lyft has received a ton of demand from cities interested in scooters. Lyft will launch scooters in Santa Monica on September 17th. He is interested in expanding to other cities, but will remember the launch date of the cities, according to Samponaro.
Lyft's approach differs from that of Bird and Lime, which was launched in Denver and many other cities earlier this year without municipal approval. The approach has undermined some cities, but has helped businesses grow quickly and win new customers. Bird and Lime has raised funds from investors at a faster rate than Uber and Lyft.
These aggressive tactics are a return to the early days of car pooling, and in fact, Bird is led by CEO Travis VanderZanden, a veteran of Uber and Lyft. Uber and Lyft are more able to deal with local governments today.
The Lyft fleet uses scooters like the ones everyone uses, but the company offers new features. Runners can pay an extra 15 cents a minute to book a scooter via the app, for example. And the company will rely on full-time employees to load and maintain its fleet rather than using contract employees. He expects this to lead to better support for his scooters so that users can be more confident that they can not ride a broken or dangerous scooter.
"We think it's important for the bike and scooter industry to grow and to have good job opportunities," said Samponaro.
CNNMoney (Washington) First published September 6, 2018: 10:00 am ET
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