Last month it was reported that Lyft could be thinking of getting into the scooter game, and now it seems that Lyft’s rival, Uber, could also be thinking about it. This is according to a report from Axios (via CNET) who claims that Uber has submitted an application to take part in San Francisco’s pilot program.
Uber has yet to comment on the report, but it there is a chance that it could be true as it was previously hinted at by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi during Recode’s Code Conference last week. The CEO revealed that the company was “thinking about alternative forms of transport” and when pressed for details, he was quoted as saying, “Bikes, perhaps scooters.”
It is an interesting move but it wouldn’t be surprising that Uber might want to capitalize on the trend. It has been pointed out that there seems to be a sudden uptick in the amount of scooters seen in San Francisco, largely thanks to three companies – Bird, Lime, and Spin – who claim to have solved the “last mile” problem as far as transportation goes.
What this means is that customers who need to travel a short distance but don’t want to bother with traffic or paying for an Uber now have these scooters as a faster method of transportation compared to walking. It will be interesting to see what Lyft and Uber could potentially offer so we’ll just have to wait and see.