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In a statement, a Lyft spokesperson wrote: “We need San Francisco to honor its contractual commitments to this regional program—not change the rules in the middle of the game.” The spokesperson said the company is “eager” to resolve the issue.John Coté, a spokesperson San Francisco City Attorney's Office, says the contract between Motivate and the city "does not give Lyft the right to a monopoly on bike sharing in San Francisco." He said that Lyft, which is also working to develop its own dockless bicycles, could "seek a permit for dockless bikes on equal footing with everyone else."Local cycling advocates say they are concerned that the dispute between the city and bike-share companies might end in fewer accessible bikes in San Francisco . “This lawsuit is really about Uber versus Lyft, and who gets to be the private operator of a public good,” says Brian Wiedenmeier, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. “If the outcome of this lawsuit limits in any way access to safe, healthy, and affordable transportation, people who ride bike-share in San Francisco will end up losing out.”This is not the first time that Lyft has sued a US city. In May, a federal judge dismissed its lawsuit against the city of New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission over new driver minimum wage rules. Lyft had argued that the new rules subtly favored Uber .In many ways, the dispute between San Francisco, the MTC, and Lyft is unique. But the lawsuit may have broader implications for other cities with contracts with Motivate. And for the wider transportation tech landscape, which has been roiled by change in the last two years. In early 2018, Jump and Motivate were nearly decade-old companies building up their bike-share businesses. But now they’re part of a larger drama, which pits two buzzy public companies—Uber and Lyft —against each other in a fight over city streets, and city residents’ dollars.- What does it mean when a product is “Amazon’s Choice” ?
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