Ride-hailing app Bolt has launched an electric bicycle-sharing scheme in Paris, expanding its transport offerings even as Uber pares back its own bike and scooter ambitions.
The Estonian start-up said the bikes would be available on its platform from Wednesday. Users will need to switch from taxi-hailing to bikes within the app, and can then unlock one by scanning a QR code.
It marks a significant investment from Bolt into so-called “micromobility” services, which were hard hit after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out demand in the still-nascent industry. Bolt is betting such offerings will help it recover from the crisis after its sales plunged 75% in March.
“Our new e-bikes sharing service will also help to fulfil the demand for light, green individual modes of transport, which has seen growth due to European cities gradually coming out of COVID-19 lockdown,” said Dmitri Pivovarov, Bolt’s director of micromobility. “We believe that micromobility should be accessible and affordable, especially at times like these.”
