Uber jumps into the ebike, scooter business in Dallas

DALLAS - Another brand of rental bikes and scooters will hit the streets of Downtown Dallas Tuesday.

The city of Dallas granted Uber a permit to roll out 2,000 electric bikes and 2,000 electric scooters under the name Jump.

The bikes will be different than all the other rental bikes that once littered Dallas’ sidewalks. They will have an electric motor and will do pretty much all of the hard work for riders.

They’re actually much faster than the electric scooters which have become popular around the city. Plus, they can be ridden on sidewalks. But with the electric motor they can really pick up speed, so Uber is hoping customers will ride them on the streets.

The company’s Jump scooters will join thousands of other electric scooters already deployed around the city. Burn has about 3,000 out in Dallas. Lime has 2,000 and Razor has another 1,000 in the city already.

The Dallas Morning News reports the city once had 20,000 rental bikes powered the old-fashioned way. That number has declined drastically largely due to the popularity of the electric scooters. There are now only about 1,000 traditional rental bikes in Dallas.

The Jump fleet will initially be smaller than the permitted number with adjustments being made depending on the demand.

Riders will be able to reserve the electric bikes and scooters using the same app used to hail a car ride from Uber.

From now until Feb. 4, everyone will get up to five free 15-minute rides per day to test them out. After the Feb. 4 trial period, the cost will be 15 cents per mile.