INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Because there aren&t enough electric scooters on the roads, Lyft is looking into launching its own fleet of electric scooters in San
Francisco, The Information reports.Lyft would join the likes of Spin, Bird and Lime — the three startups that deployed their scooters in
San Francisco, without permission, back in March.
Lyft has reportedly been in talks with San Francisco city officials to discuss applying
for a permit, and has drafted some prototypes of scooter designs
A Lyft spokesperson declined to comment.
Earlier this month, the city of San Francisco laid out its requirements for companies seeking to
obtain electric scooter permits
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has yet to actually finalize the application and terms, but a spokesperson told me on
Friday the permit applications should be ready as early as this week
The city will issue permits for no more than five companies during the 24-month pilot program
The program would grant up to 2,500 scooters to operate, but it not yet clear how many scooters each company would be allowed to
deploy.
Here how SF wants to regulate electric scooters
Meanwhile, Uber also has its eyes on electric scooters
In April, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told me the company plans to &look at any and all options& that would help move transportation options
in ways that are city-friendly
That same month, Uber acquired bike-share startup JUMP for about $200 million.
As it stands now, there are four companies that have
announced electric scooter sharing
Just last week, scooter startup Skip threw its hat in the ring with $6 million in funding.
