Is commuting doomed, and does it matter?

Plus, bikers outnumber racks 28:1 in NYC, Biden’s Peloton is a security risk, Lincoln races toward irrelevancy.

January 26, 2021

Hello and welcome to the Micromobility Newsletter, a weekly missive about mobility, mostly mobility in cities that is enabled by small electric vehicles. The reason you’re reading this email is that you signed up on our website or came to one of our webinars or events.

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Final schedule, final chance to join

At long last, our all-digital, mega-sized Micromobility World conference arrives tomorrow, marking an unprecedented gathering of more than 2,500 decision-makers, leaders, and big thinkers in modern mobility.

You can view the final schedule here. Come join us for three spectacular days of talks, expos, and connections, including:

🤝 Bradley Tusk on how mobility startups can win at politics

🌆 Janette Sadik-Khan on what will happen to cities after Covid-19

💡Benedict Evans on technology as a force for change

Best of all, General Admission tickets are still free.

What you need to know this week

  • Is the commute dead, and does it matter if it is? Two of the top Davids on Transportation Twitter—David Zipper and David Levinson—recently weighed in. In a new article, Levinson contends that the “office based CBD has peaked in significance,” and that post-pandemic, white-collar workers might commute to HQ as little as once a week. But in response, Zipper says the rise of telework doesn’t necessarily spell doom for transportation services that rely on fares and rentals (buses, trains, shared scooters, etc.), noting that in the U.S., only 15% of daily trips are commutes.

  • If and when commuting does return, Lime is positioning itself to grab some of that 15%. The scooter startup just announced a partnership with commuting benefits provider Edenred. Starting this week, all 10,000 employers that use Edenred’s commuter benefits system will have an option to subsidize micromobility trips for the more than 10 million employees they cover.

  • The news that Apple engineering VP Dan Riccio is transitioning to oversee a mysterious “new project” is sending iCar watchers into a tizzy.

  • Last year in France’s 40 largest cities, there were 80M shared mobility trips (including cars, bikes, scooters, mopeds), generating $182M in revenue.

  • Apparently Biden is a Peloton guy, which is making cybersecurity experts uneasy.

  • This week Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s nominee for Department of Transportation, suggested implementing a VMT tax, which would encourage people to shift from cars (EV and ICE) to modes like cycling, walking, and transit.

  • New subsidies are supercharging the switch to small electric vehicles in India. “India’s national government is helping fuel the transition to electric vehicles through a program… which gives manufacturers a subsidy of 60,000 rupees ($821) per electric vehicle. To date, the government claims the programme has put 41,550 new e-vehicles on the road.”

  • New York City has 1.6M cyclists and only 56,000 bike parking spots.

  • Vianova, a mobility data platform for cities, has raised $2.2M in a seed round led by RATP Capital Innovation and Contrarian Ventures.

  • Arcimoto reached a deal to acquire Titling Motor Works. The company says the patented tilting trike technology it acquired will serve as foundation for new products aimed at micromobility.

  • Lincoln is taking it last sedan models out of production, making it the latest automaker to go all-in on SUVs. When attacked from below, incumbents always retreat to high-margin products that overserve the needs of their customers.

  • Segway has opened orders in North America for the self-balancing Ninebot S Max, a scooter that features a steering wheel and parallel wheels.

Jobs to be done

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