Are you looking to save money on gas this summer? Or, do you just want to help the environment? You might have noticed that Sacramento now has several bike-sharing options to choose from.
The newest bicycles are the red electrical bikes you may have seen scattered throughout the Sacramento, West Sacramento, and Davis areas in the last two weeks.
JUMP Bikes recently brought 300 e-bikes to Sacramento, and is expected to bring 600 more within the next few months.
“if you're like a lot of the young working professionals in Sacramento, it’s more realistic to ride around in these if you're wearing a suit or if you're on your way to work because it's not the same amount of work that you get with a normal bike,” said Austin Heyworth, Uber’s Public Affairs Manager.
Uber recently purchased JUMP bikes, so when you open the Uber app, you can also see where the nearest e-bike is located.
To rent one, you first have to download the JUMP app to find one that’s available.
Once you’re done using it, you can return it to any bike rack or bike station within a certain zone on the app's map. If you leave it somewhere outside of that area, you have to pay $25.
“Because of the lock-to technology that needs to be locked to public infrastructure, you're never going to see these bikes left in the middle of sidewalks, or abandoned in the middle of the streets,” Heyworth said.
While some users have locked the e-bikes to meters and parking signs, Heyworth says the community is encouraged to always leave it at a bike rack.
“We have a team at JUMP that goes around and will help relocate the bikes every day. They take care of issues like if the bike is low on battery because these things need to be charged” Heyworth added. “If trash is left in them, we have a quality control team that is trying to address these kinds of issues in real time.”
Adam Silver works in Downtown Sacramento and has been riding a JUMP bike to go to the gym during his lunch break all week.
“It's pretty amazing,” Silver said. “You pedal twice or three times, and then you zoom out there –going like 15 mph. The motor kicks in, so you don’t really sweat.”
Silver lives in the Pocket area and said he would like to see more bikes stationed near him so he can commute to work.
“If they came with a helmet, I think I’d feel a little bit better, but Sacramento is pretty bike friendly,” Silver said.
To learn more about how the e-bikes work, click here.
Follow the conversation on Facebook with Daniela Pardo.