ORLANDO, Fla. – Uber's new, bright red JUMP bikes will be hitting the sidewalks of Orlando soon, possibly coming even within the next week.
Officials with the bike-sharing program filed a permit last week to bring 500 electric bicycles to the City Beautiful, Orlando Transportation Director Billy Hattaway said.
Similar to the 500 green Lime bikes scattered around Orlando, JUMP bikes will use batteries to allow for a faster commute. However, JUMP bikes can hit a top speed of 20 mph, which is 5 mph faster than Lime bikes.
An Uber spokesperson told News 6 they're excited about the proposal and hope to make Orlando their first market in Florida for JUMP bikes.
Costs for the Orlando rentals have not been released by Uber, but in other cities where JUMP bikes are available, pricing models have varied.
In Atlanta, the bikes cost $1 to unlock and 10 cents per hour, which is 5 cents less per hour than Lime. In other cities like Austin, it does not cost users any money to unlock the JUMP bikes and riders are only charged 15 cents per minute. In New York, it costs users $2 for 30 minutes, then 7 cents for every following minute.
Orlando passed an ordinance in September 2018 that includes regulations as to where the dockless bikes can be parked to abide by a balanced system throughout the city and be out of the way of pedestrians on sidewalks.
Juice Bike Share will also soon eliminate its docking stations to allow riders free reign to park the 500 bikes in Orlando, similar to the models of Lime and JUMP, Hattaway said.
This past Saturday was the busiest day for Lime bikes in Orlando with more than 2,100 users, which is the most the company has seen in a single day in Orlando. Since Lime was added to the Orlando transportation market in November, the city has only received about 50 complaint calls compared to the 63,000 times Lime bikes have been used, Hattaway said.
"Lime bikes and the other bike-share companies provide ways other than driving a car a way to run errands -- to complete the last mile, so they can use Sunrail or a bus when they don't have convenient access to either of those at this point," Hattaway said.
To use JUMP, users can download the Uber app and choose the Bike & Scooter option to locate and reserve a nearby bike. Then, users can scan the QR code on the back of the bike and ride it to a desired location within the geographic limits outlined on the screen. To lock the bike, riders must bring the bike to a designated area or a public rack and use the pop-out U lock to secure it safely in place.