Self-driving scooters could soon be whizzing around without riders in a tech development designed to improve cities' transport-sharing networks. A California-based start-up, Tortoise, is working on self-driving technology with which bikes and scooters drive themselves home after someone has used them. And taxi-hailing app Uber announced earlier in the year that it was working towards the same goal. Set to launch next month, the initiative is a progression for the temporary bike, scooter and Segway hire schemes which already exist around the world. It could mean fewer of the bikes and scooters are left lying around in obscure places and that they all return to charging stations or busy areas when not in use.

Lyft is due to be the first giant tech startup to list its shares on the stock market this year -- and it has laid out all the roadblocks that could derail not only its own business, but the ridesharing industry itself. From dockless scooters and bicycles to self-driving cars, any number of transport modes Lyft has bet on could upend the ride-hailing business that it helped pioneer, according to documents Lyft filed as part of its IPO process. To the extent that Lyft is dependent on drivers, they also are a source of risk to the company, as well as potential regulation stemming from concern over increasingly crowded streets and curb space. Analysts said it was among the most candid assessments yet of the challenges facing the ride-hailing industry, which has historically employed as few as possible in its pursuit of the transportation market, instead depending on thousands of independent "driver-contractors" to support its business. The risks, which are mandatory for companies to detail as part of a stock market listing, are a kind of worst-case scenario for the business.

Uber is developing self driving electric bikes and scooters that can drive themselves back to their charging stations after use. The firm is already hiring engineers for the project, which is calls'micromobility'. It is hoped that by returning to their stations themselves, Uber can avoid the problem of dumped scooters and bikes that have plagued current services. It announced the project at an Oakland event for teams racing self driving mini cars. 'Micromobility' autononomous scooters & bikes that can drive themselves to charging or better locations.

Uber is only gradually resuming its self-driving car program, but it's already thinking about expanding that technology to its two-wheeled services. The Telegraph has discovered that Uber is hiring for a "micromobility robotics" team that would bring "sensing and robotics technologies" to shared bikes and scooters. While the exact plans aren't clear, the newspaper believed this would lead to rides that park themselves -- important when carelessly parked scooters are a plague in some cities. Given that the company is only just starting to hire for the new team, it's going to be a while before you see the fruits of whatever Uber is planning. It wouldn't be shocking if self-parking bikes and scooters are in the cards, mind you, and not just for tidiness reasons. Uber is facing stiff competition from Lime, Lyft and numerous other entrants.

Early Monday morning, Uber added an update that lets you rent electric scooters from Lime. What's more, Lime scooters will also now have Uber stickers on them. The last time we saw something like this was with Jump's electric bicycles just before Uber purchased the company outright. With cars, trucks, autonomous vehicles and now bikes and scooters under its wing, it's clear that Uber is no longer just a ride-hailing service. It's looking more like Amazon, but instead of retail, the company is looking to dominate point-to-point transportation.