Lyft launched its dockless electric scooters and bikes in Austin Tuesday.
The ride-hailing company joins Uber which launched Jump, dockless electric scooters in October in Austin and bikes last summer.
Other electric scooter companies operating in Austin include Lime and Bird.
Austin is the fifth market where Lyft is offering scooters on the Lyft platform, according to a news release.
Lyft is charging $1 to unlock the scooter and 15 cents for each minute in use. People can reserve and use the scooters through the existing Lyft app.
Lyft plans to pick up scooters at night, charge them and perform maintenance, and then distribute the scooters throughout the city. It is also working with the City of Austin to place docks for riders to park their scooters on streets in areas where there is high demand and near transit stations.
“Lyft believes scooters are a powerful and environmentally-friendly solution in Austin, complementing existing mobility options to help Austinites get where they are headed and reducing congestion and carbon emissions in the City,” Mike Kilpatrick with Lyft Bikes & Scooters Austin, said in a news release. “Lyft views the successful integration of scooters in Austin as part of a bigger movement to design cities for people, not just cars. Lyft looks forward to working in coordination with the city and other stakeholders on this issue into the future.”
Lyft plans to donate proceeds to Austin’s Farm & City (Vision Zero) organization.
“Vision Zero Texas works closely with the City of Austin and regional and state leaders to meet the challenge of the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan – to end traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2025,” Jay Blazek Crossley, Executive Director of Farm & City and Vision Zero ATX Board Member, said in a news release.
