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Lyft is exploring a sale of its bike and scooter business, which includes New York City\u2019s popular Citi Bike. The news comes several months after the struggling ridehail company laid off a third of its workforce<\/a> in an effort to reduce costs. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lyft has \u201creceived strong inbound interest in our bikes and scooters business,\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s only logical for Lyft to listen to credible proposals and explore strategic partners and options in several forms to serve more riders in more cities.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Whether Lyft strikes a partnership with an investor that infuses cash into the division or sells the business outright remains to be seen. Either way, Lyft wants the rental bikes and scooters to continue to be listed on its app so riders aren\u2019t disrupted, according to The Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n In 2018, Lyft acquired Motivate<\/a>, the largest bikeshare operator in North America, for a reported $250 million. At the time, freestanding, or dockless, bikes and scooters were starting to crop up in cities across the country. But Lyft decided that docked systems \u2014 bikes that could be locked and unlocked from fixed docking stations \u2014 were the savvier move. Cities were cracking down on dockless operators in part because they competed with preexisting bike share programs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lyft decided that docked systems \u2014 bikes that could be locked and unlocked from fixed docking stations \u2014 were the savvier move<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Lyft continued to spend money on bikes and scooters, acquiring PBSC Urban Solutions, a bikeshare equipment company that supplies docks and bikes for 45 systems globally, in 2022. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n But Citi Bike was the crown jewel of Lyft\u2019s bike assets. More than 114,000 people rode Citi Bike each day in June 2023. The system reported<\/a> more than $14 million in revenue, including over $4 million in membership fees and more than $350,000 in sponsorship money. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n And the popularity of Citi Bike continues to grow, with the system reporting a 33 percent year-over-year increase in ridership so far in 2023. The blue bikes have become popular fixtures in the city\u2019s psychic landscape, featuring prominently in TV and film<\/a> and becoming a desirable and sought-after inclusion in any neighborhood. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n But Lyft\u2019s financial situation has darkened considerably this year. Its stock price has plummeted as it continues to lose market share to Uber and shed staff. The company\u2019s founders, Logan Green and John Zimmer, stepped down from their executive roles earlier this year. The new CEO, David Risher, immediately fired over 1,000 employees after stepping into the role. He has rankled the remaining staff with return-to-office requirements and cheesy corporate slogans during meetings, the Journal<\/em> reports. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Citi Bike, with its exclusive, multiyear contract with the city of New York, is likely to do fine in a sale. But smaller systems that don\u2019t bring in as much revenue or can\u2019t lean on the same type of exclusivity may not fare as well, Curbed <\/em>wrote earlier this year<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n