With Bike-Share Purchase, Lyft Aims to Be 'Amazon of Transportation'
*By Conor White*
Lyft's acquisition of bike-sharing company Motivate is the latest example of the Amazon-ization of the transportation industry, says Curbed senior reporter Patrick Sisson. And it might be just the beginning.
"When you see the rise of bike-share, dockless bike-shares, and the sort of frenzy over dockless electric scooters, people are really seeing transportation change," said Sisson. "I think Lyft really wants to be on top of this."
Motivate is the United States' largest bike-share operator, running Citi Bike in New York, Blue Bikes in Boston, Biketown in Portland, Ore., and others. While terms weren't disclosed, Lyft reportedly paid $250 million for the company.
The deal comes after rival Uber acquired electric bike-sharing start-up Jump for an estimated $200 million in April.
Both purchases are an indication that these companies want to capitalize on the growing market for short-distance travel. According to the [2017 National Household Travel Survey](https://nhts.ornl.gov/), 35% of trips Americans take are under two miles, and Sisson said Lyft wants to be the go-to for trips "anywhere, anytime."
"Lyft sees this as part of the future," he said, "to not just provide ride-hailing rides.
"They're trying to give you an option and make sure it's the only app you're looking for when you're trying to get around the city."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/lyft-enters-bike-sharing-lane)
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.