Lyft Considers Partnerships and Other Options for Bikesharing Business

Lyft is considering partnerships and other options for its bike and scooter business.

The company has received “strong inbound interest” in the business, Lyft said in a Monday (July 24) update posted on its website.

“As a leading bikeshare provider, supplying solutions to over 53 markets across 15 countries, it’s only logical for Lyft to listen to credible proposals and explore strategic partners and options in several forms to serve more riders in more cities,” the company said in the update. “We expect this part of the business to continue to be a meaningful part of Lyft’s offering now and into the future.”

Lyft has been operating bikeshare systems since 2018 and now operates the systems in eight cities in the United States, according to a file on the company’s website. In those cities, Lyft has 68,000 bikes and scooters in operation, 330,000 members and 3.6 million riders, the file said.

The company also provides software, bikes, eBikes, scooters and stations to serve the bike markets in 45 major cities around the world, according to the file.

“Bikeshare is a growing business that serves a vital public need — transporting millions of urbanites around their cities conveniently, affordably and cleanly,” Lyft said in the file. “As more cities see the promise of bikeshare, and as more citizens discover the benefits of conventional and electric bikes, bikeshare systems will become and even more crucial pillar of urban transportation infrastructure.”

Bikes, and especially eBikes, are growing in popularity, and ridership is breaking records, Lyft said in its Monday update.

“Last week alone, riders took over 1.4 million bike rides across our U.S. network,” the firm said.

The announcement of Lyft’s consideration of partnerships and other options for this business comes about three months after the company reduced its staff by 26% as part of an effort to bring down costs.

“We intend to use these savings to invest in competitive pricing, faster pickup times and better driver earnings,” Lyft CEO David Risher said in a message to employees a week before the exact scale of the layoffs was announced. “All of these require us to reduce our size and restructure how we’re organized.”