Uber Works On Creating Bikes And Scooters

Following its acquisition of JUMP Bikes, Uber is looking to create its own versions of scooter and bikes. The company is bringing recruiting, supply chain and other staff to southern China to work with scooter and bike manufacturers, Bloomberg reported.

Rachel Holt, who heads up Uber’s New Mobility unit, said the ride-hailing company might launch new transit services in Asian countries like Japan. “We absolutely have global aspirations here,” Holt recently said at an event. While she didn’t disclose the names of manufacturing partners to Bloomberg, she noted that “we have the potential to be a very, very large customer for them.”

The news comes months after Uber announced in April that it has acquired bike-sharing company JUMP. In a blog post, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote, “We’re committed to bringing together multiple modes of transportation within the Uber app, so that you can choose the fastest or most affordable way to get where you’re going, whether that’s in an Uber, on a bike, on the subway or more.”

Aside from the acquisition, JUMP had already entered into a partnership with Uber in select cities, such as San Francisco and Washington, D.C., where people can use the Uber app to locate a nearby bike and are given a PIN to unlock it.

None of the bikes need to be docked, so they can be picked up and returned anywhere, with a fee of $2 for every 30 minutes. Launched as Social Bicycles almost a decade ago, the company recently rebranded itself as JUMP after a $10 million Series A investment round. JUMP operates in 12 cities all over the world, including Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona, according to Wired.

In the post, Khosrowshahi wrote, “JUMP’s CEO, Ryan Rzepecki, is an impressive entrepreneur who has spent the better part of a decade bringing bike-sharing to life across the globe. I’m thrilled to welcome his team and their stellar product onto the Uber platform.”