Jump e-bikes return to Brussels

Leap bikes will as soon as once more be seen on the streets of Brussels subsequent week for the primary time because the begin of Belgium’s coronavirus lockdown.

The purple electrical bikes, which had been first run by Uber, will now be operated by electrical scooter supplier Lime, which purchased the bikes in Could as a part of a funding spherical wherein Uber was the primary investor.

“We hope to be again by subsequent week,” Lime’s normal supervisor for the Benelux, Benjamin Barnathan, informed La Dernière Heure. In keeping with the announcement, some 500 to 1,000 Leap bicycles ought to return to Brussels as of subsequent week, and they’re going to preserve the identical strinking look as earlier than.

Lime is hoping that the Leap bikes will assist alleviate Brussels’ want for various transport means, because the individuals of Brussels have “largely modified their habits” on the subject of transport, Barnathan identified, with a rise in cyclists. “We hope that they may proceed to take action,” he stated.

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Uber put its Leap service on pause on the finish of March “as a result of distinctive circumstances,” referring to the far-reaching measures taken by the federal government to curb the preliminary unfold of coronavirus, which included individuals staying at dwelling as a lot as attainable. The bikes then disappeared from the streets of Brussels on the finish of Could.

Earlier than the e-bikes left Brussels, town was the tenth largest consumer of Leap bicycles worldwide.

By relaunching the bicycles subsequent week, Lime will miss the window of cashing in on the upcoming car-free Sunday.

Jason Spinks
The Brussels Instances