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Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

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Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#191

Post by hunter23 »

theptip wrote: post #101
wpietri wrote: post #7

This is a puzzle to me. Uber faces some critical issues ahead. If they can solve them, the bikes will be a rounding error. If they can't, the bike business won't be enough to save them. Why add the complexity when they could buy or build something later? I especially can't figure out why the Jump CEO would do it. The odds of their work surviving to the 10 year mark seems so small. It reminds me of something like Dodg…

Strongly agree on Uber's side; this seems like both a distraction and a rounding error even if it's successful. As for Jump; https://www.crunchbase.com/search/funding_rounds/field/organ... They just announced a $10M series A in January. To cash out at a $100M valuation doesn't seem like a bad outcome; after just doing just a series A, the founders' stake is likely to be in the 25-50% range (I'd guess in the lower end…

Yes and it's not like their 2nd iteration of Dodgeball (Foursquare) was that successful. They've pivoted to business analytics, but I doubt their investors are that happy.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#192

Post by ghostly_s »

ams6110 wrote: post #177
phil21 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minneapolis? As someone who commuted via bike "before it was cool" in Minneapolis I want to ask what you're smoking :) The density simply isn't there, and the infrastructure is pretty horrible aside from some exceedingly small areas of the city proper, and of course the amazing bike paths (which typically are not useful for anything other than leisure). If that's what you consider a high bar for "bike infrastructure"…

I don't understand biking in Chicago or Minneapolis. What do you do when it rains, or snows, which is like 2/3 of the year? And after that it's 95 degrees and 98% humidity. There are probably no more than 30 to 45 days a year where it's really decent biking weather.

LOL. There are probably 15 days a year that a truly inhospitable to biking in Minneapolis. On those days the hardcore riders go out anyway, and the rest work from home or catch the bus. Snow isn't a big deal except immediately after it falls, because the city does a damn good job cleaning it up, at least on the major streets. Your pants will get filthy, so plan to change them (or wear snowpants). These are things people in the North deal with even when not biking; have you tried scraping the windshield of a car that's completely covered in half-frozen puddle slush? When it's falling you can bike too, just need to take it slow (same as motorists do) and maybe pick an alternate route that's more secluded from car traffic. I actually think it's kind of fun to slip around in the fresh snow and fall on my ass, while I never much enjoyed spinning the tires on my car. I may just be weird though.

There's nothing out-of-ordinary about the amount of rainfall in Minneapolis or Chicago so not sure where you're coming from with that one, but you just wear a rain jacket and, again, have a dry change of clothes if you're going somewhere that demands formal dress. In Chicago I've found the wind has a much bigger impact on my biking than precipitation.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#193

Post by wpietri »

toufka wrote: post #11
wpietri wrote: post #7

This is a puzzle to me. Uber faces some critical issues ahead. If they can solve them, the bikes will be a rounding error. If they can't, the bike business won't be enough to save them. Why add the complexity when they could buy or build something later? I especially can't figure out why the Jump CEO would do it. The odds of their work surviving to the 10 year mark seems so small. It reminds me of something like Dodg…

I suspect it's really good signal for setting up or optimizing routes. Those bikes show very clear underserved endpoints that might otherwise be hard to discover. Might just be a cheap and interesting peek down-market on their geographic data-layer.

Huh. As a regular cyclist, I'm a bit suspicious. My view of the city is very different than a car's. And I'd think that Uber could buy bike data for way less than $100m.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#194

Post by ghostly_s »

r27d wrote: post #156
phil21 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minneapolis? As someone who commuted via bike "before it was cool" in Minneapolis I want to ask what you're smoking :) The density simply isn't there, and the infrastructure is pretty horrible aside from some exceedingly small areas of the city proper, and of course the amazing bike paths (which typically are not useful for anything other than leisure). If that's what you consider a high bar for "bike infrastructure"…

Not sure who you are but I bet we were friends. Left MPLS for SF. MPLS is "the best city" for nearly anything if you ask a local. Too bad they wasted the Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot $20M on shitty latex paint bike lanes at $75,000 per block.

What do you think they should have spent that on?

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#195

Post by ghostly_s »

k_sh wrote: post #169
bogomipz wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"los angeles is perfect for bike transport." Except that LA is a sprawl and almost nothing is close together. Maybe if you live at the beach its nice.

True, but generally folks live within 5 miles of 90% of the places they go. Also, a bicycle can serve as a last-mile connector to the transit system - imagine someone who lives at Wilshire and La Brea but works in West Hollywood, and would like to take the Red Line, but doesn't want to lose an hour to walking.

> True, but generally folks live within 5 miles of 90% of the places they go.

Isn't LA like, the single place on earth where this is least true?

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#196

Post by phil21 »

ams6110 wrote: post #177
phil21 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minneapolis? As someone who commuted via bike "before it was cool" in Minneapolis I want to ask what you're smoking :) The density simply isn't there, and the infrastructure is pretty horrible aside from some exceedingly small areas of the city proper, and of course the amazing bike paths (which typically are not useful for anything other than leisure). If that's what you consider a high bar for "bike infrastructure"…

I don't understand biking in Chicago or Minneapolis. What do you do when it rains, or snows, which is like 2/3 of the year? And after that it's 95 degrees and 98% humidity. There are probably no more than 30 to 45 days a year where it's really decent biking weather.

Well, in Chicago you pretty much bike on the good days. The infrastructure isn't great (like noted by OP in his followup to me) - but the density of the city makes it pretty workable if not entirely enjoyable. You can typically get around on bike on the good weather days faster than most other forms of transit - largely because you're only a few miles from anywhere you need to be.

So in Chicago the typical bicycle commuter commutes on the nice days (maybe half the year?) and will take public transit the rest.

In Minneapolis I commuted via bike for financial reasons so it was mostly a "suck it up, buttercup" sort of deal. You brought changes of clothes, outfitted your bike for the weather, and otherwise just made do. Honestly summer was worse than winter because I sweat a lot in heat. I cannot imagine living in that area without a car voluntarily. You just cut yourself off from far too much - but I suppose this was pre-Uber so the situation is a little bit more tenable.

Public transit in Minneapolis is basically for poor folks or those with DUIs - so it's not exactly stellar and usually not an option for most folks living in the metro area.

Edit: The follow up of "maybe 15 bad days" you had is for what most would call hardcore riders. The number of days the casual fair-weather bicycle commuter rides is far, far, less. I feel pretty comfortable saying this considering my family was known as crazies because we'd bike throughout the winter no matter the weather.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#197

Post by maherbeg »

bogomipz wrote: post #163
maherbeg wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you may underestimate the impact e-bikes are going to have on major (non-car centric) cities. They'll likely reshape cities significantly as infrastructure gets improved for biking. You can get significant traffic density improvements by pushing bikes instead of cars, and e-bikes make this more accessible.

>"I think you may underestimate the impact e-bikes are going to have on major (non-car centric) cities." Outside of Europe what would you consider the major non car-centric cities?

New york city, the chicago core (probably not greater chicagoland), SF, LA, Portland, Seattle proper would all be excellent candidates.

An e-bike can go 20 miles comfortably which means you could take it to work, lock it up and charge at work, and ride back in the evening for most commutes. I'd guess about 30 minutes is the upper bound average for most commuters that would ride a bike to work. Seattle and SF are perfect for pedal assist e-bikes because hills feel like flat roads, and their public transit system isn't nearly as good as NY

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#198

Post by astrodust »

mattmanser wrote: post #178
ams6110 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like what people said about Segway. Don't remember if it was Jobs, but somebody of approximately his tech reputation said "this will change the way we build cities."

Yes, the trouble is, the cities are already built. Basing your business model on cities spending a metric tonne of $$$ on reworking their city isn't going to work.

European cities were built before the car.

American cities were built for the car.

African cities are growing rapidly and can be built for the car, the bike, or something else entirely.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#199

Post by clairity »

bogomipz wrote: post #166
clairity wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

los angeles is perfect for bike transport. it's sunny and doesn't get too hot or too cold most of the year (in the LA basin proper, the san fernando and inland valleys are a different story). the city government is pro bike path and installing more bike lanes every day. biking is faster during the 6 hours of rush hour a day. most amenities are within 2-3 miles (~15 minutes) of where you live. you can take your bike o…

>"los angeles is perfect for bike transport." Except that LA is a sprawl and almost nothing is close together. Maybe if you live at the beach its nice.

the LA i live in (not at the beach) allows me to walk/bike/bus/train to basically anywhere i want to go, most of which is within 5 miles of where i live. when i need to go farther, i can take a lyft or rent a car.

but you gotta get over that perception of sprawl to realize how great LA is for multi-modal transport.

Re: Uber enters dockless bike wars with Jump acquisition

#200

Post by lev99 »

electricEmu wrote: post #48
fataliss wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would take a lot of political will to do something like that though and it would take YEARS! I don't think the US is a great market (right now) for city-bikes. Outside of maybe Manhattan & SF I can't think of any major city where a bike would take you places faster/better than another way of transportation would. When you consider all the hassles that biking as a transportation comes with, I doubt this has any l…

Seattle? Portland? Minneapolis/St. Paul? You might consider bicycling while you travel more. In Seattle alone, OFO, LimeBike, and Spin are all competing. American bicycle infrastructure is behind, but it exists. I don't own a car. I get around those cities on bike without issue. It's as fast or faster than a car in many cases and I'm peddling the old fashioned way (with legs).

For most trips in Seattle more than half a mile and less than 5 miles in distance biking is the fastest way to travel. It stays competitive for east-west travel and places without mandatory parking minimums for longer distances.
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