An exposé of the dramatic rise and fall of JUMP bikes under the ownership of Uber, in partnership with cities all over the United States.

Aaron Gordon tells a history of bikeshare that starts with a high-profile acquisition and ends up in the literal garbage.
The article starts at the end, when images of JUMP bikes being destroyed by the thousands went viral on social media at the end of May, before interviewing former JUMP employees for lessons about where Uber's ownership of the bikeshare company went wrong. "Few, if any, of JUMP’s former employees were shocked by the videos [of the bikes being destroyed]. To some, it even felt a fitting, if upsetting, coda to a troubled two years under Uber’s stewardship."
The main culprit of JUMP's decline and fall, was a shift in company culture from efficient and idealistic to scale-obsessed and wasteful. Not all of the blame is laid at the feet of Uber, however. "It's about the role cities play in determining their futures, how much of that role has been usurped by a handful of people with a lot of money, and the perils of trying to be the good guy," writes Gordon.
The long-read exposé ranges from the history of the original dockless bikeshare companies, like SoBi, Motivate, Ofo, to the sudden explosion of venture capital funding and the ups and downs of popularity and missed revenue expectations that followed in the second half of the 2010s—all before Uber took over JUMP bikes in 2018.
"Accounts differ on precisely how long it took Uber to undermine everything JUMP had previously been about," writes Gordon. "Some former employees said it happened virtually immediately. Others described a more gradual process that took a few weeks. But they unanimously agreed it didn’t take long at all for JUMP to stop being JUMP."
The big question looming over the entire discussion, and the implications of the JUMP story for future private efforts to deliver alternatives to automobile travel in urban areas, is whether the bikeshare model can be profitable at all. In May, Uber sold JUMP bikes to Lime, which was reported to have lost $300 million in 2019.
FULL STORY: How Uber Turned a Promising Bikeshare Company Into Literal Garbage

Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.

Minneapolis Housing Plan a Success—Not for the Reason You Think
Housing advocates praise the city’s move to eliminate single-family zoning by legalizing triplexes on single-family lots, but that isn’t why housing construction is growing.

New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives
The Biden administration this morning released a new program of actions intended to spur housing construction around the United States.

Proposed Transit Line Would Connect Downtown Tucson to Airport
Based on community input for a 15-mile transit line, residents want to see a focus on affordable housing development and anti-displacement measures.

Strip Malls as a Housing Solution
The American strip mall may be a dying breed of commercial development, but could the buildings serve a new use as sustainable housing?

Study: Most of Vancouver Is a ‘15-Minute City’
A large majority of Vancouver residents can access a grocery store in 15 minutes or less by bicycle or on foot.
Urban Planning Partners
Sandy City
Ada County Highway District
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Redwood City
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.