Ride-sharing meets bikes, rental cars, mass transit, and more…

Uber has moved beyond four wheels and has officially entered the dockless bike-sharing space.

The ride-hailing company announced last Monday that it would be acquiring the electric bike (e-bike)-sharing startup JUMP Bikes.

Now, it also appears to be adding rental cars and public transit ticket services to its newly-minted multimodal arsenal, too. 

Uber is launching a rental car network in partnership with car-sharing company Getaround. San Francisco-based Getaround allows users to find and instantly book vehicles from private car owners, all through a mobile app.

The new Uber Rent platform, which is scheduled to launch later this month, will make cars from Getaround’s network easily available to users of Uber’s app, too.

This deal comes as Uber is rapidly expanding its flagship, on-demand ride-sharing app into other modes of transportation, which has been a major goal for the company. 

You already know about the JUMP acquisition, but the ride-sharing company has also announced that it will be partnering with London-based Masabi — a mobile public transit ticketing company.

Uber said this partnership will help customers to book and use public transit tickets directly within the Uber app. 

Getaround’s offerings will appear through a side menu in the Uber app. Users will be able to find and unlock an available car through their phones.

Getaround currently offers its car-sharing program in 10 U.S. cities, which include San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, Boston, and Los Angeles. However, the Uber Rent platform will launch only in San Francisco at first. 

If Uber feels solid about the product market fit, it will expand the program nationally. 

Getaround was founded in 2009 and has raised $88 million from investors, including Toyota, since then. The platform enables car owners to rent their vehicles to neighbors, tourists, and other people within their city.

Getaround sees its car rentals, which can be booked by the hour or by the day, as complementing Uber’s on-demand rides and helping to move Americans away from private car ownership. 

“Most of a person’s transportation needs can be met by coupling ridesharing for quick trips with carsharing for trips with multiple stops or longer getaways,” Getaround Cofounder and CEO Sam Zaid said in a press release. “It’s the perfect combination for people who have chosen to live car-free.”

Getaround competes with other car-sharing platforms, such as San Francisco-based Turo and Daimler subsidiary car2go. 

On the public transit front, Uber has partnered with Masabi — a mobile ticketing platform for public transit. 

Masabi handles ticketing for 30 transportation agencies worldwide, including Los Angeles’ Metrolink, New York’s MTA, London’s Thames Clippers, and Boston’s MTA. 

The idea is that people will be able to book and use transit tickets from within the Uber app, as well. 

“Whether you’re using mass transit for your morning commute, taking an e-bike for a mid-day meeting, using Pool to take a ride home or renting a car for the weekend,” Uber CEO Dana Khosrowshahi said at a press event in Washington, “We want Uber to be there with you and we want to partner with cities to be part of our solution moving forward.”

Under the leadership of Khosrowshahi, Uber has become more willing to work with governments, rather than in spite of them. 

This is quite the 180 for Uber. Before the days of Khosrowshahi, Uber was reluctant to release any data to anyone.

All this is a push to make Uber a platform for all transportation options. Basically, the company wants to become your one-stop remote control for all transportation — not just ride-sharing. 

With so many travel options available these days, there’s certainly a high demand among customers for more aggregation.

People want to be able to compare prices and make informed decisions about their transit options. And there’s a race among companies to be the first to offer a multimodal service.

And Khosrowshahi has also hinted that he has his eye on electric scooters. 

My bet is that it’s just a matter of time before we see Uber Scooter… 

That’s all for now.

Until next time,

John Peterson
Pro Trader Today