Most people know Lyft as a peppy upstart nipping at Uber’s heels, but the ride-hailing company just became America’s leader in bikesharing.
On Monday, Lyft announced the acquisition of Motivate, a New York-based company that currently operates bikeshare systems in some of the largest, densest U.S. cities. That includes the four largest station-based bikeshare systems, with New York’s Citi Bike, Chicago’s Divvy, D.C.’s Capital Bikeshare, and Boston’s Bluebikes. Those four systems alone generated 74 percent of the 35 million bikesharing trips—docked or dockless—taken in the United States in 2017, according to NACTO’s annual bikesharing report. Motivate is also getting a new name: Lyft Bikes.
