Ford GoBike Taking Bay Area Electric Bicycles Out of Service

BAY AREA, CA -- San Francisco Bay Area public bicycle sharing system Ford GoBike is pulling thousands of electric bikes from Bay Area streets after riders have reported problems with their brakes, the company said April 14.

"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 statement. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively removing the electric bikes from service for the time being."

"We know this is disappointing to the many people who love the current experience -- but reliability and safety comes first," the company said.

Ford GoBike operates 7,000 electric bikes in the Bay Area, serving San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville.

A small number of electric bikes in San Jose have different components than the one being removed from service and will remain in circulation, the company said.

In the meantime, Ford GoBike said it will start quickly replacing the removed electric bikes with pedal bikes, and will also extend monthly and annual memberships by a month as a "thank you" to customers.

According to Ford GoBike, it's currently working on creating a new electric bike model and hopes to roll those out soon, although no date has been given.

"The new bike model will be accessible just by scanning a QR (Quick Response) code or tapping your Clipper card, and overall will be more fun to ride," the company said.

Although the bikes bear the name of Ford Motor Company, as the bikes are sponsored by Ford, the company has been acquired by transportation networking company Lyft.

Lyft has reportedly taken electric bikes out of service in other cities in the country, including New York City and Washington, D.C.

Bay City News contributed to this report.