JUMP makes moves in Silicon Valley
Picture this: you took public transportation to work and decide to go to your favorite restaurant for lunch. Unfortunately, the restaurant isn’t in walking range and you’re not sure you can get there and back using public transit before lunch is over.
That’s where a convenient e-bike share could swoop in and save the day.
JUMP e-bikes, owned by Uber, debuted in San Francisco in early 2018 and the company now has a goal to work its way down the Peninsula. (JUMP was originally part of Social Bicycles, which had a successful pilot program in San Mateo a few years ago.) After the rise and fall of many dockless bike share companies, San José and San Francisco are the only cities in our area that currently have bike share available. Which city will be next?
JUMP hopes to make sure it works well in a city like San Francisco, with a concentrated bike support movement and well-known infrastructure, according to Carlos Villicana, Senior Marketing Associate for JUMP, before making moves down the Peninsula. While there were no plans to move into Silicon Valley by the end of 2019, 2020 may be different.
“Our plan is to service San Francisco as best as we can first,” Carlos said. “After that, we will evaluate our opportunities across the Peninsula.”
Silicon Valley residents saw JUMP bikes at SVBC’s Bike Summit on the infrastructure ride hosted by the City of Mountain View. Attendees got a chance to try out JUMP bikes, and JUMP staff got a chance to learn from local leaders as well.
“[Bike Summit was] really, really eye opening,” Carlos said. “It was great to see so many collective decision-makers in one room and talking about important transportation issues.”
JUMP sees a lot of overlap between their work and the advocacy world.
“The more that people are involved with the bike movement, whether it be through their bicycle coalitions or their community organization the better our bike systems will become,” Carlos said. “With JUMP, people not only have the ability to enjoy a convenient e-bike, but it’s also the ability to become involved in their own local transportation movement.”
In other words, e-bikes can be a gateway into biking (and biking advocacy!) for those who may otherwise shy away from bikes.
“As a company, we’ve learned a lot about transportation around the world,” Carlos said. “We are constantly understanding how to improve our product, better serve our customers and work in partnership with our cities to build better biking infrastructure.”
E-bikes offer a way for those who find the physical demands of riding a bike to be out of their comfort zone, and bike share is a great and convenient tool for those on the go. SVBC is excited about endeavors like these that get more butts on bikes in Silicon Valley!