Decarbonizing, Democratizing, and Digitizing Informal Transit: Why Powerhouse Ventures Invested In Dollaride

The decarbonization of the transportation sector generally falls along two axes: replacing existing vehicles with lower-emissions alternatives (EVs, e-bikes), and building the infrastructure and networks for decarbonized mobility (charging stations, mass transit systems, bike lanes).

The latter category typically falls under the purview of government agencies and planners, which are increasingly focused on providing efficient, equitable, and clean transit systems, especially in urban areas. While mass transit provides a key lever for the decarbonization of urban mobility, formal transit networks often remain inaccessible or unaffordable to large portions of urban residents. In turn, residents have turned to “informal transit,” which accounts for 100B rides globally each year.

No stakeholders, including regulators, have access to, or even the means to gather, informal transit data. City and mobility planners are increasingly recognizing this data gap, understanding the necessity to integrate informal transit data in order to deliver truly comprehensive, equitable, and climate-oriented urban mobility.

This is where Powerhouse Ventures’ newest portfolio company, Dollaride, comes in.

Dollaride provides the digital infrastructure to gather accurate, timely transportation data, closing the gap between informal transit riders and drivers in areas with limited transportation supply. By digitizing informal transit networks, Dollaride helps riders access affordable transportation, enables drivers to grow their ridership, and equips businesses to offer commuter options that are cheaper than existing alternatives—all while reducing carbon emissions and bolstering clean mobility options.

Here’s why we invested and why we’re so excited about what Dollaride has built.

Urban transportation emissions are a big problem.

• The transportation sector makes up almost a third of U.S. GHG emissions, driven largely by light-duty vehicles, which are responsible for almost 60% of transportation emissions.
• Despite a renewed focus on urban transit from city planners and transportation agencies,? much of the increase in driving-related emissions since 2015 has occurred in and around cities.

Informal transit is a major piece of the transportation puzzle.

• As cities grow and gentrify, residential communities are pushed further out from the center, creating widened transit deserts where bus and rail lines are inaccessible or nonexistent. In New York City alone, more than 600K residents live in areas with poor access to public transit.
• For decades, informal transit networks such as dollar vans have filled this gap, providing cheap, higher-density transportation for the estimated 4.5M transit desert riders across the country. Dollar vans consist of unofficial shuttles that operate where subways and buses don’t—mostly in residential and low-income neighborhoods.
• Cities and transportation agencies have little visibility into these systems, making them difficult to quantify, expand, or decarbonize.

Dollaride has built the digital infrastructure for informal transportation.

• Dollaride provides a data-driven solution that organizes and builds trust with existing dollar van drivers, expands and optimizes transit routes, and collects and monetizes data.
• The platform’s dynamic routes reduce single-passenger vehicle miles, particularly around the last mile, minimizing GHG emissions and addressing local pollution in marginalized communities.
• Dollaride serves the complete ecosystem of drivers, riders, and enterprise customers with software solutions tailored to each stakeholder.
• As a growing number of state and local governments enact mandates for vehicle electrification, Dollaride is uniquely positioned to help informal transit fleets electrify their vehicles as a trusted operations partner.?

Powerhouse Ventures is proud to invest in Dollaride’s pre-seed round alongside Backstage Capital, Automotive Ventures, Driven Capital Partners, The Fund, NewAge Capital, Prehype, and more. We look forward to working with the Dollaride team, including Co-Founder & CEO Su Sanni and Co-Founder & CTO Chris Coles, to create a more accessible, equitable, and clean urban mobility system.