Lyft May Ditch Citi Bikes in Cost-Cutting Makeover: Report

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by Shannon Thaler

July 24, 2023 | 12:38 p.m

Citi Bike Lyft owner is reportedly looking to offload its expensive fleet of bikes and scooters as part of a broader cost-cutting shake-up by new CEO David Risher.

Risher, who took over in April, wants to either sell Lyft’s fleet of 68,000 bikes and scooters or partner with an investor who can fund the division, people familiar with the matter said. The Wall Street Journal.

Citi Bikes are available in many cities, with New Yorkers making more than 114,000 rides each day in June.

The sources told the newspaper that maintaining the fleet is costly and is seen as a distraction from the company’s core business in the field of transportation.

in blog post Updated Monday morning, Lyft said it has “received strong inbound interest in our bike and scooter businesses, which isn’t surprising given bikes, especially e-bikes, are growing in popularity as rides continue to break records.”

A Lyft spokesperson declined to comment.

Lyft bought Citi Bike from Motivate in a nine-figure deal in 2018.

In 2022, Lyft mentioned $4.1 billion in revenue, but the company doesn’t say how much business comes from bikes and scooters.

the popular service It enabled 52 million trips last year.

By comparison, Uber reported $8.6 billion in profits in 2022.

Risher’s job has been to bridge the gap with Uber since he took over on April 21.

The outlet reported that in June, standard Lyft rides were 12% cheaper than Uber rides.

Lyft, whose share price has risen nearly 16% in the past month, will release its second-quarter earnings on Aug. 8,

Just days after being named CEO at the ride-hailing company, known for its eye-catching pink logo, Lyft has upgraded its fleet of e-bikes with fancy LED displays and doubled the battery capacity.

The new 1,500 two-wheelers charge faster than the current fleet of 5,000 e-bikes operated by Lyft, and can travel up to 60 miles before losing battery.

If a buyer or investor steps in, Lyft will want two-wheelers to remain included in its app so that riders don’t experience major changes to the user interface, according to the Journal.

Risher has also taken aggressive cost-cutting measures, handing out pink slips to 1,100 employees.

Lyft also divested more than 250 jobs, which would have incurred roughly $41 million to $47 million in costs related to termination and employee benefits in the second quarter, the company said on the stock exchange. filing.

The San Francisco-based company will incur additional costs related to stock-based compensation, which it said could not be estimated at the time.