Lyft Suspends Electric Bikes in San Francisco After 2 Bikes Mysteriously Catch Fire
Commuters in San Francisco are temporarily down one mode of transportation.
Lyft announced Wednesday that it is temporarily suspending its electric bike program that launched earlier this summer in the Bay Area after two of the bikes caught fire this week.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are temporarily making the ebike fleet unavailable to riders while we investigate and update our battery technology,” a Lyft spokesperson told PEOPLE Wednesday. “Thanks to our riders for their patience and we look forward to making ebikes available again soon.”
It is currently unclear whether the bikes that caught fire were tampered with or vandalized, but Lyft has seen an increase in vandalism on its bicycles in the city recently. No injuries have been reported to the rideshare company.
The San Francisco Fire Department told the San Francisco Examiner that the incident Wednesday had been classified as a “battery pack issue,” and that the fire was not deemed suspicious.
BREAKING: @LYFT e-bike battery catches fire in #SanFrancisco
Reported first by @SFExaminer. https://t.co/Zk5T0mCD9q pic.twitter.com/3SBj19qk2X— Joe Fitz Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) July 31, 2019
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“It is unfortunate that this incident occurred and we are currently monitoring the situation,” said a spokesperson for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to the Examiner.
“We have an inquiry into Lyft as to the circumstances surrounding this incident as well as to how they intend to prevent any future fires and ensure the safety of customers and the ongoing operability of the bike-sharing system.”
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In addition to Lyft’s car rideshare program, the company also offers regular bikes and scooters. Under its Bay Wheels program, Lyft added e-bikes to that list in San Jose in June, and shortly after, San Francisco and the East Bay, the company said in a press release.
The flaming bikes in San Francisco are not the first to be reported.
In New York, there were reports of CitiBikes catching fire in March, and there have been multiple reports of electric scooters catching fire in various cities across the country.
