Bike-Share Company Offers Electrified Two-Wheelers In San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- A new San Francisco bike-share company is hoping locals will be interested in their electric bicycles that require much less "pedal-power" on the City's daunting hills.
JUMP Bike got the green light from officials to launch 250 dockless electric bikes this January. The powered bikes top out at 20 mph.
"Takes the sweat and the difficulty out of biking, particularly in a city like San Francisco with a lot of hills," said JUMP Bike CEO and founder Ryan Rzepecki.
So if you're looking for a workout, this wouldn't be your vehicle of choice. JUMP Bikes are meant to make cycling easier for the rider.
"It's a pedal-assist bike. It measures how hard you're working. It just gives you a boost," said Rzepecki. "There's no throttle on the bike you just pedal like you would normally"
It costs $2 to rent a JUMP bike for 30 minutes and 7 cents a minute after that.
Bluegogo, another dockless bike company, launched in San Francisco last year without a permit.
That company received pushback from city leaders, not just for launching without permission, but because Bluegogo's dockless bikes were found piled up all around cities in China where it first launched.
Rzepecki said that won't happen with JUMP Bike, because user will continue to be charged until the bike is locked and GPS shows it's where it should be.
"We know who you are and we have the accountability that, if you don't lock the bikes up properly, we can have a penalty or cut off your access," explained Rzepecki.
Rzepecki said Jump Bike is hoping to win over the rest of San Francisco. If they do, they'll be allowed to expand, adding another 250 bikes later this year. The company's headquarters are in the Bayview, and CEO Rzepecki says they're hiring locally.
