Ride-Hailing Company Lyft Reportedly Set to Buy Motivate, the Company Behind Portland’s Orange Biketown Bikes

For users of the orange bikes, the proposed transaction is good news.

(Christine Dong)
By Nigel Jaquiss

Lyft, the ride-hailing company, is said to be close to purchasing Motivate, the company responsible for the 1,000 orange Biketown bicycles dotting the city, according to tech website The Information.

"If a deal is consummated, it would put Lyft ahead of ride-sharing rival Uber, which acquired another bike-share service called Jump in April for around $200 million," The Information reports.

In 2014, Motivate bought Portland-based Alta Bike Share, a pioneer in the field, and expanded on the base Alta had built, including rolling out Biketown here.

For users of the orange bikes, the proposed transaction is good news—as more capital and more competition should yield more bikes and perhaps even lower prices. Earlier this week, Biketown announced an expansion of its service area.

The companies involved didn't respond to The Information's requests for comment.

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