By: Kyle Daniels
NBA star LeBron James and business partner Maverick Carter are teaming up with Lyft to give thousands of young people across the country free access to bikes.
James said riding bikes gave him a sense of independence growing up as a kid in inner-city Akron, Ohio.
This past Tuesday, Lyft announced that it teamed up with Uninterrupted, an athlete empowerment brand founded by LeBron and Maverick. Together, both companies will offer free bikeshare programs to young people across the United States.
The partnership came about from Lebron’s longtime friend Mav Carter. Carter and the Lyft co-founder have known each other since Lyft’s earliest days.
The program is part of Lyft’s “LyftUp” initiative, which aims to expand transportation access to those that need it most.
They plan to launch it this spring in New York City before expanding it to Chicago and the Bay area later in the year.
Future transportation needs to be accessible to everyone, Carter tells CNBC. “This is just the beginning of this partnership,” Carter says. “It can go so many places.”
