LYFT HAD HIGH hopes for its shared electric bicycles. Less than two months ago, Lyft bike and scooter policy head Caroline Samponaro wrote that e-bikes were a “a truly transformational technology,” citing the cycles’ abilities to move riders longer distances with less effort (and less sweat). They might help cities beat traffic and fight pollution. They might help Lyft access a new sort of user, the kind of person who doesn’t have the money to take a ride-hail trip every day but might spare around $2 per ride. They might help Lyft become a one-stop-app for urban transportation—and beat rival Uber to the punch.
