Lyft pushes into bicycles with a new acquisition

Lyft Acquires Motivate, the operator The US carpool giant, Lyft, announced Monday the acquisition of motorcycle operator Motivate, which is stepping up its efforts against competitor Uber in other forms of transport. Motivate, which operates bike programs in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington and elsewhere.

"Lyft and Motivate have been committed for years to reducing the need to own a personal car by providing reliable and affordable means" John Zimmer, co-founder and president of Lyft.

"Rallying Lyft and Motivate will accelerate our cooperation Although Motivate operates traditional bike stations with docking stations, the release indicates that Lyft would be turning to new "dockless" bike programs and pedal-powered electric bicycles.

The move Lyft follows that of Uber, who recently acquired the Jump electric bike start-up to allow users of his mobile app to use two-wheelers rather than cars, and accompanies them. of increasing interest in dockless bicycles.

Lyft announced last week a $ 600 million fundraiser that values ​​the San Francisco group at $ 15.1 billion. rds of dollars – well below that of Uber, but still among the most valued startups. Motivation name will remain and it will continue to operate bike programs throughout the United States, the release said.