🇨🇳 Bikes Boom During China Lockdown

Plus, Unagi tries sharing, VanMoof has a new president, and Formula 1's Fernando Alonso launches his first ebike.

May 10, 2022

Last Chance to Save Nearly 50%

Have you heard? Micromobility Europe is right around the corner.

We’re bringing the micromobility community together in Amsterdam on June 1-2 to celebrate small vehicles and look at what’s next for cities. Join us for a stacked lineup of speakers, rides, launches, and more. 

This is the first time in a while everyone will get together IRL. And by booking before Friday, May 13th, you can reserve your place in the festivities for almost ½ price. 

P.S. We’re looking for a handful of motivated individuals to help ensure the Amsterdam event runs smoothly in exchange for a free ticket. This is a great chance to go behind the scenes, save money, and meet industry leaders. Are you interested in volunteering? Email us asap. 

What You Need to Know This Week

  • With much of China back in lockdown, bicycle traffic has surged. “In the financial hub of Shanghai, where the lockdown has slightly eased for a majority of the city’s 25 million residents, bikes are the only transportation choice available for those granted freedom to leave their homes. Private cars still aren’t allowed on the roads without a government-issued permit, while subways and buses in the city remain closed.”

  • Gillian Tans, the former CEO of Booking.com, is taking the reins as president of VanMoof following a tough year for the company. In 2021, the Dutch ebike maker recorded a loss of around €70 million on a turnover of more than €90 million.

  • Lyft is bringing carpooling back to more cities.

  • What will become of New York City’s Covid-era open streets?

  • Unagi, maker of stylish escooters, is launching its own version of shared micromobility. The company, which up until now has focused on sales and subscriptions, is making its scooters available to rent on-demand at hotels, luxury apartments, and coworking spaces.

  • Norway is considering scaling back its EV perks to boost car alternatives, such as buses and trains.

  • Over a thousand US cities and towns will soon be reclassified as rural, with dramatic repercussions for federal transportation funding.

  • Formula 1’s Fernando Alonso has launched his first ebike. The Kimoa is made-to-measure for each rider, thanks to its custom 3D-printed carbon fiber frame.

Kimoa

  • Lime quietly killed its electric moped sharing initiative in New York City.

  • High gas prices are affecting how far people are willing to travel to dine out. “Cheesecake Factory locations in Cleveland and Pittsburgh experienced [an] uptick in visitors traveling five miles or less, while those driving over 30 miles to dine at The Cheesecake Factory declined.”

  • Since Denver introduced America’s most generous ebike rebate two weeks ago ($400 discount for an ebike, plus an additional $500 for an e-cargo bike), some 2,600 residents have applied.

  • Fluidfreeride has launched the dual-suspension, 25-mph Mosquito escooter that weighs just 29 lbs.

  • Delivery apps in San Francisco are migrating couriers from cars to ebikes to circumvent traffic.

  • Citi Bike, the municipal bikeshare player in New York City, reports that its bikes traveled 7M miles in 2021, up from 2.7M the year before.

  • Cyclable, a French bike retailer, has raised €7 million from Calcium Capital.

  • Rather than reduce speed limits, New York City is trying to reduce traffic deaths by putting up scary billboards.

Mayor Adams Launches Major Campaign to Tackle Traffic Violence: "Speeding Ruins Lives. Slow Down." | City of New York

  • The “e-rehab market” is growing along with ebike popularity: “Research shows that outdoor motor-assisted, non-stationary exercise can help stroke, spinal cord injury survivors, Multiple Sclerosis patients, and people born with motor function disorders.”

  • Dott ebikes are being incorporated into the Citymapper app in major European cities, including London.

  • Amazon is hiring (its first?) micromobility fleet manager, a role that will be tasked with helping decarbonize last-mile deliveries.

  • San Diego is considering imposing two dozen additional rules for shared scooters, including a policy that would require companies to use technologies to automatically slow down their scooters when they are ridden in certain areas. The city is also weighing whether to reduce the number of permits available for scooter operators, while nearly quadrupling the fees.

This week’s Micromobility Newsletter is presented by… Particle

Get ready. The leading conference in IoT is here, and we have some big news for the micromobility community. 

Join Spectra 2022 virtually on May 18th & 19th and you’ll be the first to hear Particle’s latest product announcements and see our new solutions in action.

We are also hosting engaging workshops on automation, testing, edge geofencing, BLE, diagnostics, and debugging, and more. Join us if you want to deep-dive into the world of IoT! 

Pod People

The majority of Americans say they want to live in a walkable neighborhood, yet only 8% do.

On the latest episode of the podcast, Oliver Bruce chats with Ryan Johnson of Culdesac about building the world’s first car-free neighborhood from scratch in Tempe, Arizona.

Jobs to Be Done

Welcome to our jobs board, where every week we post open positions in hopes of connecting our talented readers with professional opportunities in the burgeoning world of new mobility. Find out who’s hiring below and sign up for the newsletter to view fresh listings every week.

Hit reply if you have a job that you’re interested in listing.

Dance (Berlin):

Felyx: General Manager Germany (Berlin)

Streetlight Data: Senior Product Designer (San Francisco)

Vassla:

Zoomo: