Lyft removing electric bikes from DC, other cities over braking problems

Lyft is removing thousands of electric bicycles from bike-share programs in Washington, D.C., New York and San Francisco because of a braking problem.

“We recently received a small number of reports from riders who experienced stronger than expected braking force on the front wheel,” the company said in a blog post emailed to customers on Sunday and obtained by Reuters.

{mosads}The company’s bike-share division is reportedly working to replace about 3,000 pedal-assist bicycles in the cities with normal bikes. The company has about 17,000 traditional bikes in those cities.

The bike-share services impacted by the removal include Citi Bike in New York, Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C., and Ford GoBike in the Bay Area, according to Reuters.

“After a small number of reports and out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively pausing our electric bikes from service,” Citi Bike spokeswoman Julie Wood told the news service. “Safety always comes first.”

Lyft purchased Citi Bike last year after Uber bought electric bike sharing startup Jump Bikes.