Uber and Lyft confirm that they want to expand to offer electric scooters

Uber wants a permit to operate e-scooters in San Francisco, the company confirmed to The Verge. Scooters would be added to the Uber fleet alongside ride-sharing cars and bikes supplied by the bike-sharing startup Jump, which Uber acquired in April.

Lyft has also said that it’s applied for permits for electric scooters in San Francisco, but the company currently doesn’t have a scooter or bike operation. It’s reportedly in talks to buy bike-sharing company Motivate.

The city announced new regulations for scooters and a permit process at the end of May. Under those rules, startups had to remove their scooters from the streets by June 4th and apply for permits by June 7th. Those that win permits will be allowed into a 12-month pilot program. The measures are supposed to clean up the sidewalks in a city overrun by electric scooter startups.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has said it’s only granting five permits to companies. Ten other companies have applied besides Uber and Lyft, including Bird, Spin, Lime, and Scoot. It will determine the winners in late June, a spokesperson told the SF Chronicle.