Free JUMP ebike rides through December 9

Three red JUMP bikes on University and 4th Ave in San Diego, CA.On November 19, 2018, Uber announced the launch of dockless electric bikeshare service JUMP in San Diego. JUMP bikes are electric and provide a boost with every pedal (up to 20 mph), making it easier for riders to get around their city without breaking a sweat.

If you’ve been wanting to see what it feels like to ride an ebike, this is a great opportunity to check them out at no cost. Uber is giving everyone five free trips up to 30 minutes long each day through December 9. Unlock them using the Uber app by tapping the “mode switch” at the top of the Uber homescreen, select a bike, and the app will give you a pin number so you can unlock your bike. The JUMP Bikes app works pretty much the same way.

Uber's "free ride" promotion of JUMP ebikesWhile pricing varies by city, in San Diego at launch, ebikes will cost $1 to unlock and then just 10 cents per minute to ride.  JUMP will start with 300 bikes available across a 28 square mile radius, from Pacific Beach all the way downtown to Crim avenue; and from the northmost point at Chalcedony St. to the southmost point at National Ave.

In 2017, JUMP bikes launched the first ever dockless electric bike share system in the United States. JUMP’s pedal assist bikes are available in Austin, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Providence, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. They also have scooters available in Austin, Santa Monica and LA.

In California, JUMP is already bringing multimodal transportation to users across the state. In October, JUMP started expanding its fleet of bikes San Francisco, from 250 to 500 bikes after data showed that over 38,000 unique riders took more than 326,000 total trips during the pilot. Around Sacramento, JUMP recently expanded its service area by more than 50 percent to meet demand of more residents. And last week, it announced that it started deploying 3,000 ebikes and scooters across LA.

BikeSD is happy to see expanded options for bikeshare in San Diego. However, the continued shortage of safe, high-quality bike lanes across San Diego remains a substantial hindrance for riders of all kinds of low- and human-powered vehicles. We hope companies like Uber and JUMP will become partners with BikeSD to expand our advocacy and educational efforts. Without significant biking/mid-speed infrastructure improvements in San Diego, the adoption rate and potential of these new transport modes will always be limited.