WASHINGTON — Anyone with the Uber app in D.C. can now use it to rent a JUMP bike, the electric bikes that Uber now owns.
The option is now available in the menu that users can open on the left side of the app. It is expected to expand later to all cities with the JUMP bikes.
In addition to Wednesday’s expansion of the bike sharing integration to D.C. from San Francisco, Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also promised on a visit to the District that it would share some more data with certain cities it operates in.
Beyond existing aggregated data Uber publishes for the District (and a newly expanded list of other cities), Uber is working with SharedStreets to provide D.C. data on the most popular locations for drop offs and pickups.
The data is being folded into separate similar information that includes taxicabs and other ride hailing companies.
Similar data were used to justify the District’s pilot program that reserved parking spots near Dupont Circle for pickups and drop offs for late night partiers.
Initial District Department of Transportation reviews of the program have been mixed at best since enforcement of the no parking rules there has been difficult.
Uber for trains, rental cars
The expansion to include bikesharing in the Uber app is just part of the company’s effort to broaden its reach beyond typical ride hailing trips.
Users of the Uber app will now be able to book train or bus tickets in a number of cities.
Uber has signed a partnership agreement with Masabi, a transit ticketing firm that has contracts with transit agencies in New York and Boston, among others.
Uber also announced Wednesday that it will launch a test in San Francisco this month of a short-term car rental program.
So far, the program through Getaround has been targeted at Uber drivers who can pay for cars by the hour then pickup fares.
The new program will add more cars to the GetAround fleet than just the existing personal vehicles that owners make available, and make the cars available to anyone with the Uber app in San Francisco. The program is initially expected to operate similarly to Zipcar, with the requirement that cars be returned to the same place they are picked up, although that could change later.
Rental rates are expected to start at around $9 an hour for a Prius and more for larger vehicles. The rate is $5 for Uber drivers.
