Lyft Bikes Go Up In Smoke

(RTTNews) - Ride-hailing service Lyft has pulled off a fleet of e-bikes from streets of San Francisco, after multiple reports of bikes catching fire.

Lyft's San Francisco bike-share subsidiary Bay Wheels suspended the entire fleet of pedal-assisted electric bikes.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we are temporarily making the ebike fleet unavailable to riders while we investigate and update our battery technology," the company said in a statement.

There were no reports of anyone being hurt, Lyft said.

The company said it is not sure whether the e-bikes have been tampered with as it has been receiving multiple complaints.

"It's unclear whether the bikes and batteries were tampered with or vandalized,'' the company's statement said. "We are seeing increased rates of vandalism on our bikes in San Francisco."

Meanwhile, this is the second time this year that Lyft has had to suspend its e-bike fleet.

In April, the company pulled every one of its e-bikes in New York, DC and San Francisco after rider complaints about over-responsive brakes flinging them off the bikes.

San Francisco's e-bike fleet returned in June, but New Yorkers have to wait until the fall, the company had said.