There have been recent reports including here on The Techie about scooter-sharing companies currently springing up and raising millions of dollars at huge valuations, Bird just raised $150 million at a $1 Billion valuation, Lime just raised $250 million and others have been raising too.

Major ride-hailing players and super competitors Uber and Lyft have also decided to get into the e-scooter sharing space and are both currently working on the process of getting a permit in the city of San Francisco to begin operations in the city and further its expansion from there.

Uber would offer its services through its Jump bike-sharing service which it acquired April this year and also recently launched in Europe alongside Lyft which currently operates no scooter or bike-sharing service but has been reported to be interested in the acquisition of U.S. Biggest bike share operator Motivate.

The city of San Francisco is going to issue at first five permits for these e-scooter operations with the different companies involved in the field competing for the permits. These permit requirements were issued after some companies including Lime, Bird and Spin had already launched their e-scooter operations in the city but had to pause after residents complained of scooters becoming obstacles as some riders were not following the law and also riding on places designated for pedestrians.

The companies who would get these permits will now offer their services in a more organized way satisfying both riders and pedestrians alike, After the Taxi industry’s disruption by ride-hailing services, We would now see how this new era of scooter and bike-sharing would play out, We will know very soon if it’s a main player capable of generating Billions of dollars in value and revenue like other transportation sectors have done.

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