Ride-hailing company, Lyft Inc., is removing several thousands of its electric bikes from service in three U.S. cities - New York, Washington and San Francisco - following complaints of a braking problem. Reports reveal that a stronger than expected braking force on the front wheel may have been the cause for complaints.
The company is now working to replace about 3,000 pedal-assist bikes in New York, Washington and San Francisco with traditional bikes to ensure that the service uninterrupted. It already has 17,000 traditional bikes in those cities.
The bike share brands that were affected by the service removal include Citi Bike in New York, Capital Bikeshare in Washington D.C., and Ford GoBike in the Bay Area.
However, the company assured that it is working on a new electric bike model that will be ready to hit the market soon.
Lyft, which went public in March 2019, bought Citi Bike operator Motivate last year in a move to fend off competition from rival Uber Technologies Inc’s purchase of electric cycle-sharing startup JUMP Bikes months before.