The good & bad this week in mobility

The good & bad in demand responsive transportation

Shuttl, India, is winding down operations. The company raised so far $122M, but has barely operated since the start of the pandemic. Add to the pandemic the pressure from traditional operators to block competition; competition from MoveInSync’s SaaS model and from Chalo’s bus aggregator app; combined with the inability to pivot to a new business model; and you have the main reasons for the shut down. Shuttl is now looking for an M&A.?

BestMile, Switzerland, maker of autonomous shuttles, is shutting down as well. The company is considered highly innovative, but the pandemic had a negative effect on its customers. Probably news of M&A in the next few weeks.?

SWVL launches a corporate focused commute service in Saudi; busHive to schools in Florida; Shotl launches service to bring people to the beach in Italy and in Moray, UK; Ioki to banks in Germany; VIA in North Yorkshire in the UK; Moia restarts at Hanover; And check out Lucas Foljanty’s Q2/21 updated on-demand ride -pooling world map.?

Ride-hailing

DiDi went public on the NYSE on June 30th, raising $4.4bn in the process, ending up with a $73bn valuation. Two days after the IPO, China’s cybersecurity regulators called an investigation in the company, sending the share ~5% down. Couple of days later, the?Chinese regulators removed the app from the app store, blocking new users from downloading it, sending the stock well below IPO price and wipingout $22bn market value.?

Cabify launched ‘Cabify Go!’, a multimodal subscription service, incorporating ride-hailing, moped, bikes and courier service under one app. Piloted in Madrid, Cabify has set a number of subscription plans, tailored to different needs. If successful, we should expect not to see only Cabify launch this in new territories, but a shift with current ride-hailing/micromobility players to an integrated, MaaS if you will, offer.?

New York City blocks Revel’s new electric ride-hailing plan. The company wanted to launch a Tesla fleet of 50 cars, expanding beyond its moped service. But, NYC, for congestion and yellow-taxi protection reasons blocked the move.???

Ride-hailing driver shortage is continuing across the US, causing Uber & Lyft to increase driver benefit and pay and contributing to a constant increase in ride-hailing costs. Some factors, such as fear of Covid and related unemployment benefits, are short term and likely to end by September; but there is one factor that will not go away quickly: gig-economy workers make a better living from working in delivery.?

UK centric?

In London, Uber has ceased to register new cars with a combustion engine, hybrid or not, forcing new cars to be 100% electric. Car manufacturers - mostly Hyundai, Nissan and Arrival - are racing to be the next “Toyota Prius”, a symbol of Uber in London. Bedford will be the first UK town to trail taxi app-haling through Uber, similar to the way GETT or Addison Lee work. Moovit integrates Voi. London again; Over 50% of the rides generated today by Uber were once public transport rides. In only under 15% of the cases did Uber replace the private car. For more. Ford partners with Hermes to launch a self driving parcel delivery service.?

In other news

Electric vehicle outlook 2021, by bloomberg. There are more EVs being sold, thanks to a combination of policy support, improvements in battery technology and cost, more charging infrastructure being built, and new compelling models from automakers. 39% of new buses being sold are electric.?

Whereismytransport completed a $14.5M series A extension to map formal & informal transportation networks in emerging countries. Onway to Lima, the company seems to be heading to Latin America.?

Uber completed the acquisition of Cornershop, the Latin America delivery startup. San Francisco capped the fees that delivery apps charge to restaurants at 15%, extending a similar temporary order, showing, once again, that US regulators do not hesitate to put protections on small businesses.?

Long(er) read: In 2016, the city of Columus won a Department for Transport $50M challenge to lead new transportation technologies. Wired looks at Columbus’s attempt to redesign transport and TechCrunch lists the tech that was poured into the city, including a transportation planning app that cost $1.25M to develop and was downloaded 3,849 times. While the pandemic and some bad luck can partly explain why the project is not successful, it seems that the people in charge were busy investing in tech and forgot the basic rule - to get more riders to ride public transportation - you need to improve the service. More vehicles, more stops, better frequency, longer hours.?

Plan your own street game.