Skedaddle, a travel application that lets users book shared long-distance bus rides, has been reportedly talking with both Uber and Lyft about an acquisition.
In an email to BostInno, Skedaddle declined to comment.
Citing sources, Techcrunch reported that Uber has been in discussions to acquire Skedaddle for more than a month, and that Lyft was also recently in talks.
Paige Craig, an early investor in Lyft, is among the backers of the Boston-born company through Arena Ventures, which led the company's $2.1 million round in September 2016. Skedaddle has raised a total of $3.1 million.
Lyft told Axios and Techcrunch it's currently "not in discussions to acquire Skedaddle," and it's unclear if conversations with Uber remain active, Axios reported.
The report is significant as an indicator of the recent expansion of ride-haling companies from taxi alternatives to one-stop destinations for different forms of urban transportation.
Only two months ago, Uber announced plans to integrate a variety of new options to its app, including bikes, car-sharing vehicles, buses and trains. The acquisition of dockless bike-share company Jump earlier this year for a reported $200 million was one of the first steps in that direction.
Lyft didn't sit on its hands, as it just bought bike-sharing business Motivate, the parent company behind Blue Bikes in Boston and other programs. In June, the company introduced mixed transportation trip-planning capabilities in its app to include public transit in selected cities, as they said that top-requested Lyft destinations are to and from public transit stations.
The announced integration with other forms of transportation, including public transit, follows criticism of ride-hailing companies as contributors to traffic congestions. In Boston, a recent report from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council found that about 59 percent of all ride-hailing trips are putting more cars on the road.
