The road to Providence’s rentable bike future was paved with good intentions. Under a program invariably described as “innovative,” people would be able to rent bright-red bicycles from a tech company called Jump by unlocking them with their smartphones. In cities around the globe, it was a popular way to get around.
But it veered sharply as soon as it entered Rogues Island.
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Emails between the City of Providence and Jump show just how unprepared the company was to deal with the wave of vandalism and criminal activity that would bring the much-touted program to an untimely halt here.
In one case, someone pulled a gun on a Jump field tech, the company privately told the city. Thefts were out of control, and audacious: Kids went right to the source, trying to take bikes directly from Jump’s warehouse. Riders complained that people tried to steal their bikes — while they were renting them. That was in the course of just one weekend.
Jump had dealt with issues in other cities before. But it was not expecting the level of vandalism that would occur in Providence, according to the emails, which the city originally tried to withhold by citing the trade secrets exemption in the state records law.
“This is resulting in hundreds of bikes needing major repairs due to vandalism,” Adam Krueger, then the senior operations and logistics manager for Jump in Providence, told a city planner in a July 15 email. “If the city has any suggestions on how to curb this level of vandalism, it would be greatly appreciated.”
The future of the Jump rentable bike program, which Mayor Jorge Elorza touted as a fun and eco-friendly way to get around the city, is now in jeopardy. And not just because of the coronavirus pandemic.
After weeks of complaints about the use of the pedal-assist bikes in crimes last summer, Jump pulled them off the streets in August, but pledged to be back by the fall.
Fall came and went, and the bikes didn’t return. Jump’s owner, the ride-hailing giant Uber, said over the winter that they’d be back in the spring.
But earlier this month, Jump was acquired by a competitor, Lime, in an investment deal with Uber. Lime’s scooters had already been in Providence, but the company left. And now, after months of assurances that the Jump bikes would someday return, those pledges have gotten a lot mushier.
"Providence is among the cities where we will suspend Jump service for the foreseeable future, but we hope to continue conversations with the city about a potential return with bikes and scooters,” a Lime spokesperson said in an email this week.
Katherine Hypolite, a city spokeswoman, said in an email: “The City of Providence remains committed to providing residents and visitors with safe, equitable micromobility options and is actively evaluating the future of our bike share program.”
The city and Jump, then called Social Bicycles, reached a deal in late 2017 to bring the bikes to Providence. Under the terms of the deal, Providence would pay Jump about $400,000 for the costs associated with bringing the bikes to Providence. That money came from a federal grant, the city said.
Jump would still own the bikes, and collect fees from users for renting them.
Lifespan, the Tufts Health Plan and RIPTA supported the program, which rolled out in September 2018. But by the summer of 2019, complaints about their misuse started to mount. They’re dockless, so they’re available to pick up on city streets, but they’d sometimes be left right on sidewalks. A Jump bike was chucked in a river.
And a relatively simple security flaw allowed people to ride them for free. All someone had to do was smash some of the components, which disabled the payment system and also the electric pedal assist. The zombie Jumps would become analog, but free. From there, people used them in a stunning array of crimes, from robberies to snack-stealing.
The concerns about the bikes were well-publicized, but the string of emails obtained by The Providence Journal add a new level of detail about how dire the situation was for the Silicon Valley company.
The records are coming to light only now after a lengthy records dispute between The Providence Journal and the City of Providence. In August, a Journal reporter submitted an open records request seeking communications between the city of Providence and Jump about the use of the bikes in crimes.
The city said The Journal couldn’t have some of the records, citing a state law that exempts trade secrets and confidential or privileged information from public release. The Journal, in response, filed an appeal to the attorney general’s office in September. The two sides submitted legal arguments, and the AG’s office this month ruled in favor of the newspaper, saying portions of the communications that had been withheld should be turned over. Other portions remained redacted.
A few days later, the city produced a string of emails in July between an Uber representative and a city planner. Though they’re still heavily redacted, they show rising frustration on both sides as Jump struggled to keep bikes on the street in line with its contract.
When Jump’s representative pointed out that they were having trouble keeping up, city principal planner Alex Ellis pointed out that Jump had agreed to keep 90% of the bikes on the street.
“It doesn’t say ‘unless there’s vandalism,’” Ellis wrote.
Ellis also sought more extensive communication between the city and Jump.
“Can you just forward to me the more serious customer service incidents?” Ellis wrote. “Or just a headsup manually if that’s more feasible, like ‘Hey Alex, one of our fleet techs had a gun pulled on them today. They’re okay but thought you’d want to be aware.’ Good communication helps us be on the same page more.”
Krueger took two weeks to respond, and apologized with an explanation for why he hadn’t gotten back earlier: “We've been dealing with continued vandalism and increase in stolen assets.”
— bamaral@providencejournal.com
(401) 277-7615
On Twitter: bamaral44