What happens to rush hour if WFH never ends?

Plus: I saw the best dockless e-bikes of my generation destroyed by madness.

May 26, 2020

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As the country begins to reopen, it is important for any company to hit the ground running. For those in the micromobility space, that means staying organized, from boots on the ground to contractual compliance and everything in between.

Founder Shield has built a database of city insurance requirements and an expertise in contract review to ensure there are no speed bumps as fleets begin to ramp up again. Please reach out for a free consultation to make sure you are staying ahead.

Our next guest is…

Will Covid-19 be Lime’s moment of glory or its grand undoing?

Later today on our video conference series, the company’s president, Joe Kraus, will talk about what the pandemic means for scooters and what the Uber deal means for Lime.

Become a member now, free for 30 days, to receive access to this and all future webinars.

What you need to know this week.

  • Following similar moves by Twitter, Square, and others, Facebook announced it will allow most of its employees to telecommute forever. If perma-WFH catches on outside the tech industry, will demand for mobility suffer? Probably not. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, work commutes made up only 14% of all trips in 2017.

  • As congestion returns in Beijing, China’s major bike-share providers are giving away free rides in an effort to ease traffic. Commuters in the Chinese capital can now unlock a bike from Meituan Dianping, Alibaba Hellobike, or Didi Chuxing Qingju at no cost for 30 minutes during the morning and evening rush hours.

  • Rental-car company Hertz filed for bankruptcy.

  • Tortoise and GoX have launched the world’s first teleoperated scooter pilot in suburban Atlanta.

  • The Super73-Z1 is this summer’s status e-bike, with A-list stars like Will Smith, Justin Bieber, Jamie Foxx, Madonna, and Lil Nas X all having been spotted riding the Class 2 two-wheeler.

  • In the wake of Jump’s acquisition by Lime, and in the middle of a pandemic in which cycling is one of the few safe modes many people have of getting around, tens of thousands of Jump’s older e-bikes are being consigned to the landfill. What’s more, Jump’s very promising 5.8 model, which is currently a WIP, is being scrapped entirely. That’s because when Uber sold Jump to Lime, it fired every last engineer who worked on the 5.8’s firmware. So now, even if Lime wanted to pursue the 5.8 system, it has none of the necessary expertise to develop it.

  • Europe-based ride-hail company Bolt raised $109 million at a $1.9 billion valuation in a round led by Naya Capital.

  • Indian ride-hail company Ola is cutting 1,400 jobs, or about a third of its workforce, after its revenue fell 95% in the last two months.

  • Dearborn appears to be rubbing off on Spin. The Ford-own scooter startup is now sponsoring motorsports.

  • “Why micromobility may emerge from the pandemic stronger than before,” featuring our own Horace Dediu.

  • For the first time in two decades, AAA did not issue a Memorial Day travel forecast because so few Americans are driving due to the pandemic.

  • As India’s nationwide lockdown starts to lift, Bounce is redeploying its shared mopeds in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The company also launched a long-term subscription offer that lets users rent a vehicle from anywhere between 7 days and 24 months.

  • BNEF’s annual “Electric Vehicle Outlook” predicts overall auto sales will fall by 23% this year, but EV sales will do better than ICE cars. The report also posits that the two-wheel segment will continue to electrify faster than passenger cars in the next decade.

  • Following France’s lead, the UK will offer its citizens £50 vouchers for bike repairs.

  • Austin’s bike-share program may become part of its public transit authority this summer, which would allow commuters to book rides for both services via one app.

  • A look inside the cycling revolution that is sweeping Latin America.

  • A restaurant in the Netherlands is testing a “bike-thru” concept that allows cyclists to place orders for takeout.

  • Rad Power Bikes, the largest e-bike company in the U.S., has overhauled its electric cargo bike, the RadWagon. Is this the F-150 of micromobility?

  • A new study says cycling to work “can cut risk of heart disease and cancer by a quarter.”

  • Estonian software startup Comodule launched an e-scooter service called Tuul. The company is live in Talinn and has applied for a permit in Paris.

  • Tel Aviv will pedestrianize nearly a dozen major streets by restricting traffic. 

  • And Montreal will add over 200 miles of bike lanes.

  • Tier’s dockless scooters will soon come equipped with an integrated foldable helmet. Shared helmets seem more like a hazard than a safety benefit in the age of Covid-19, but for what it’s worth, the German micromobility startup says its team will disinfect the helmets after every five rides.

  • Jump’s permit to operate in San Francisco expires today. Lyft is now the sole bike-share provider in the city, a de facto monopoly that could become permanent pending the outcome of a lawsuit this fall.

  • It looks like Jump is pulling out of Brussels too.

  • From a new study on how drivers overtake cyclists: “The results showed that, both when the cyclist rode closer to the centre of the lane and when the time gap to the oncoming vehicle was shorter, safety margins for all potential collisions decreased.”

  • Deloitte examines four possible outcomes for transportation after Covid-19. Almost all scenarios involve consolidation in the shared micromobility space.

  • LA Metro is replacing its own app with Transit app.

Pod people.

Spin is a tortoise in an industry of hares. On the latest episode of the podcast, the company’s chief business officer, Ben Bear, preaches the virtue of slow but steady growth, cultivating strong relationships with cities, and forming strategic alliances, including with Ford.

Jobs to be done.

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