Uber building its own scooter to grab a piece of the scooter-sharing market

Uber’s plans for building flying taxis are no secret, and while exciting, it’s hard to imagine those plans reaching fruition anytime soon. A more realistic plan that we’ve heard, which is a bit audacious in its own right, involves Uber building its own scooter for cashing in on a rapidly growing scooter-sharing market. [caption id=“attachment_5081271” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] A smart phone app time-of-use electric scooter from Bird Rides Inc. Reuters[/caption] As per Bloomberg, Jump Bikes, acquired by Uber for more than $100 million, is actually overseeing the operations. While scooter-sharing is most popular in China, the report states that Santa Monica-based  Bird Rides and Lime, which are both scooter-sharing services, are being valued at nearly $1 billion. It’s no wonder that Uber is looking for another market opportunity. Lime and Bird Rides scooters are reportedly very widely used because of their convenience and cheapness. Bikes and scooters can be unlocked using apps and after arriving at your destination, they are just left there while the rider walks away. However, as of now, the scooter-sharing market is still in its starting phase and Jump’s head of product, who is reportedly overseeing the operations, has denied of its existence. However, Foley has commented on the design challenge that scooters can face. As per the report, the team is determining how to prevent people from doing intentional physical damage to scooters. Uber is reportedly, as of now, branding all the electric scooters it is importing from China with the Jump brand name. However, it would seem that getting permissions from the local government for running a scooter or bike-sharing businesses will be a bigger hassle than ride-hailing was.