In the summer of 2023, Lyft considered selling its micromobility division due to significant interest from potential buyers. However, the ride-hail company is now focusing on expanding its docked scooter and bikeshare services, aiming to be the premier partner for cities seeking to improve their urban transportation systems.
Since acquiring PBSC Urban Solutions, a shared bike and station provider, two years ago, Lyft has invested in developing high-quality e-bikes and docked e-scooters, along with introducing a new solar-powered, modular docking station capable of charging both bikes and scooters.
As CEO David Risher evaluated Lyft’s micromobility assets, he pondered, “Should we sell everything, or should we manage it ourselves?”
Risher emphasized the rapid global growth of e-bikes, stating, “It would be foolish not to handle this ourselves.” He shared with TechCrunch that Lyft’s e-bike rides surged by 65% year-over-year through August, accounting for half of all rides. “We decided to take charge and elevate it to the high standard of excellence we uphold for our entire business,” Risher added.
Lyft has decided to retain its micromobility business, but this decision comes with significant costs. The company is restructuring its team and finances, resulting in the layoff of approximately 1% of its tech workforce as it reallocates resources from R&D to sales, operations, and deployment, according to a Lyft spokesperson and a regulatory filing.
The company announced on Wednesday morning that it will pay between $32 million and $42 million in asset disposal costs as part of restructuring and related charges totaling between $34 million and $46 million. According to a regulatory filing, the remaining expenses will be connected to consulting fees, employee severance and benefit costs.
Lyft plans to streamline and integrate its micromobility operations, combining PBSC—which provides bikeshare-as-a-service to local operators and cities across 49 global markets—with its eight Lyft-owned and operated bike and scooter share programs, such as Citi Bike in New York City and Divvy in Chicago. This merged division will be rebranded as Lyft Urban Solutions, with Michael Brous, Lyft’s former head of operations, taking the lead.
We estimate that the restructuring will provide ongoing benefits of around $20 million annually, and it will positively impact the business,” Risher stated.
While this represents a small fraction of the company’s overall operations—Lyft reported $1.4 billion in revenue for the second quarter—the improvement is significant. Lyft posted an operating loss of $27 million for the quarter, a substantial decrease from the $159 million loss in the same period last year. Notably, the company achieved $5 million in net income, reversing the $114 million net loss reported a year earlier.
Lyft aims to gradually upgrade the hardware and software across its cities to achieve standardization. The company is committed to a station-based, grid-connected model, deliberately steering clear of dockless scooters and bikes.
We’re really focused on docked systems because they help cities manage their infrastructure more effectively,” Risher explained. “There was a time when it was free for all, with bikes and scooters cluttering the streets. We believe in a solution that benefits both riders and cities.”
Docked bike and scooter-share programs also offer the advantage of establishing long-term partnerships with cities as these stations become integrated into the city’s infrastructure.
Lyft’s dockless operations are limited—currently offering scooters in Washington, D.C., alongside Capital Bikeshare, and bikes and scooters in Denver. However, Lyft announced that it would cease these services in Denver and explore alternative options.
Despite this, Lyft will maintain its involvement in the dockless scooter market by continuing its partnerships with Spin and, more recently, Bird (which owns Spin), allowing riders to book these services directly through the Lyft app.
Lyft does not separately report its micromobility business in its quarterly or annual earnings statements, and the company did not disclose the percentage of total revenue derived from micromobility services. However, in 2023, Lyft recorded a total of 709 million rides across both micromobility and ride-hail services, with approximately 56.7 million of these, or about 8%, being bike and scooter-share rides.