🚉 Scooter Stations?

Hey everybody, ICYMI: Micromobility Europe is coming to Amsterdam on June 1-2. We will have an incredible array of public and private leaders on deck for meetings, talks, and more. Be sure to subscribe to this newsletter to receive updates as we announce new speakers all month long, including:

This year we’re also excited to host the first-ever Joyride Academy Experience, a high-touch, in-person workshop squarely focused on micromobility operators and how they can successfully launch and grow their businesses. Learn more here. 

What You Need to Know This Week

• Chicago’s new escooter pilot will see Lime, Spin, and Superpedestrian return for two years with 3,000 vehicles each. Interestingly, Divvy, the local bikeshare service that is run by Lyft, will also launch escooter stations, creating what could be the world’s first dock-based bike-and-scooter system.

• Results from Oakland’s Universal Basic Mobility program, in which people were given prepaid cards to purchase trips for public transit, bikeshare, and dockless escooters, are in: “In a mid-program survey, 40% of participants said they changed how they travel, with 23% saying they drove alone less often.”

• Here’s a spicy take: Escooters should require riders to pump their legs so that they get physical activity while they move, similar to an ebike.

• Shared scooters have returned to Kyiv.

Coming Soon

Consumer expectations in micromobility are rapidly changing. To figure out what the next generation of riders wants—and how ebike and escooter companies can give it to them—we’re bringing together an expert panel of industry leaders for a virtual roundtable. We’ll explore:

PS Our own Oliver Bruce recently shared his thoughts about the role customer support can play in helping micromobility startups scale - it’s a good primer.

• Fiido, a Chinese company that makes cheap electric bikes, is recalling two folding models after discovering a fault that could cause them to snap in two. 

• If you’re on a budget and you want to buy a folding ebike, there are other options. The new Lectric XP Lite costs just $799 and is getting some nice reviews.

• Need more proof that the oil crisis is encouraging commuters to drive less? Superpedestrian says shared scooter ridership was up 360% in March, year-over-year, and that half of customers hopped on a scooter to avoid paying high gas prices.

• Lime and Bird lead among shared micromobility operators in Canada in terms of the number of communities they serve.

• Traffic deaths have increased in almost every single American city that has adopted Vision Zero since it signed onto to the pledge.

• And nationally, the number of pedestrians killed by drivers rose 17% in the first half of 2021.

• This is a problem that is only going be made worse by the next generation of four- and five-thousand-plus pound EVs.

• Someone on Reddit made an incredibly detailed map of bike lanes in the NYC metro area in the style of the MTA Subway map.

• Green Cell is putting $2.72M into a Polish plant that makes ebike batteries.

• On the other end of the product lifecycle, Trek is partnering with Call2Recycle to turn its stores in recycling centers for ebike batteries.

• Two Dutch brothers are on a mission to build an ebike only using European components. They’re 90% of the way there.

• Periscopes are not just for submarines anymore. They’re also for cargo bikes.

• Shaq’s favorite ebike company, DirtySixer, unveiled a massive ebike with 36-inch wheels. 

• A new study confirms how essential fleet rebalancing is to bikeshare operations.

• Google is launching new tools to help businesses optimize their last-mile delivery.

• Despite supply chain hiccups, Europe’s ebike market continues to swell. New data shows that sales of pedal-assisted two-wheelers grew 9.4% in Switzerland and 28% in France in 2021.

• Find out how much you can save by trading your car for an ebike in New Zealand.

• Grocery couriers on mopeds are keeping Shanghai fed amid one of the strictest COVID lockdowns yet.

• Prague plans to pedestrianize a key thoroughfare near the Charles Bridge.

• Okai, maker of shared ebikes and scooters, launched a high-speed ebike targeted at consumers, featuring such niceties as a swappable battery and a color display.

• Berlin police are now patrolling using cargo bikes.

• A very useful deep dive into what computer vision can do for micromobility from a safety perspective.

• Are you building something new the micromobility ecosystem? Come join our Linkedin group Builders in Micromobility, a new initiative launched by Micromobility Industries aiming to inform, connect, and accelerate mission-driven individuals in urban mobility. Request to join and we’ll add you.

Pod People

On the latest episode of the podcast, political fixer-turned-VC Bradley Tusk, known for leading the charge to legalize Uber and his active investment in Bird, explains why cities tend to resist new technologies like ride-hail and shared scooter, and how startups can overcome entrenched political interests.

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):

• Head of Hardware

• Global Supply Manager 

• Business Development Manager (Dance moped)

• Repair & Operations Manager

• Strategy & Operations Manager 

Zoomo:

• Head of Operations (UK)

• Regional General Manager (Europe) 

• City Operations Manager (New York) 

• Head of Software Engineering (San Francisco)

• Strategy and Planning Manager (Australia)