Uber, Lyft Reportedly Had Acquisition Talks With Bus Startup Skedaddle

Large tech companies want to profit off of as many things as possible, and ride-sharing rivals Uber and Lyft are no different. Months after both companies made acquisitions to infiltrate bicycle transit, a new report suggests Uber and Lyft could jump into intercity bus travel.

Both Uber and Lyft have had recent merger discussions with bus-sharing startup Skedaddle in the past few months, TechCrunch reports. According to the site’s sources, talks with Uber have been ongoing for at least a month, while Lyft has recently put its feelers out to Skedaddle about acquiring the company, too.

Lyft, for its part, denied the report, per TechCrunch. Or, at least, denied that Lyft is actively talking to Skedaddle. Reps from Uber and Skedaddle did not comment.

The Boston and New York-based startup spawned in 2015 as a way for like-minded individuals to charter private bus rides between cities using an app. If a user needs to get to a certain place by a certain time, they can check to see if any existing routes exist and buy seats. If not, they can charter their own bus and invite friends. Strangers can also buy seats on chartered buses as there need to be enough people committed to taking a ride for the company to send a bus.

Skedaddle serviced 40,000 riders in its first year and then greatly expanded those numbers as it started serving more parts of the United States, according to Business Insider. The average cost of a ticket as of 2016 was around $35. Since then, Skedaddle has partnered with music festivals like Bonnaroo to transport people to and from venues.

The company gained a boost to its public profile when it transported protesters to the first Women’s March in 2017 in Washington, D.C. Skedaddle brought people to D.C. from as far away as Kansas, according to the New York Times.

If Uber or Lyft acquired Skedaddle, it would give said company even more control over how people get from place to place. A company like Uber could use its existing money and infrastructure to encroach upon already existing forms of intercity travel, just as it did with taxi cabs in major cities.

Such an acquisition would fit with recent trends by both companies. In April, Uber bought bike-sharing company JUMP and launched Uber Bikes in select cities. Lyft responded this week by buying Motivate, the nationwide bike-sharing network that operates services like CitiBike in New York and GoBike in San Francisco. Motivate was, fittingly, rebranded as Lyft Bikes.