Lyft acquires bike sharing company Motivate

NEW YORK – Lyft has completed its acquisition of Motivate, the nation’s largest bike-sharing company.

The deal is part of the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company’s goal of offering an array of transportation options within one app and reducing individual car ownership. Financial details were not disclosed.

Motivate operates bike-share systems in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and elsewhere. Last year, 80 per cent of bike-share rides in the U.S. were on Motivate bikes.

Caroline Samponaro, head of bike, scooter and pedestrian policy for Lyft says the company plans to invest $100 million in New York to triple its bike fleet there to 40,000 and double the footprint of the system.

Rival Uber acquired bike sharing company Jump Bikes earlier this year. Uber also invested in Lime, a bike and scooter-sharing company.