Lyft buys the biggest bike-sharing company in the US

Lyft has acquired Motivate, the bike-sharing company that operates Citi Bike in New York City and Ford’s GoBike program in San Francisco. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though it was reported in June to be around $250 million.

Motivate, which Lyft says accounts for about 80 percent of bike-share trips in the US, also operates networks in Chicago; Boston; Washington, DC; Portland, Oregon; Columbus; and Minneapolis. Lyft says it “will invest to establish bike offerings in our major markets and pursue growth and innovation in the markets where Motivate currently operates,” but it’s unclear where or when it might expand beyond the cities Motivate is currently in. The company also did not share when Motivate’s bikes will be available in the Lyft app.

“Together Lyft and Motivate will revolutionize urban transportation and put bike-share systems across the country on a path toward growth and innovation,” the company wrote in a blog post announcing the acquisition.

Lyft says it will take on Motivate’s city contracts, some of which are exclusive, but that the bike-share company’s maintenance and servicing operations “will remain a standalone business, retaining the Motivate name, and will continue to support bike-share systems across North America.”

Bike and scooter sharing services have taken off in some of the US’s largest cities over the last few years, and in response, recent investments in startups like Lime and Bird have totaled hundreds of millions of dollars. Both Lyft and Uber are angling to grow beyond their standard ride-sharing services by working bikes, scooters, and more into their apps. Uber bought e-bike startup Jump earlier this year, is testing a rental service, and has applied for a permit to operate a network of electric scooters in San Francisco. Lyft has applied for a permit there as well.