Summarising 2021, predicting 2022.

Looking back at 2021 trends and forward for 2022 forecasts; Bolt generating drama in London over pricing; Cabify could lose #1 place in Madrid; Didi losing $6.3bn in nine months; TuSimple’s autonomous truck running 80 mile on public roads; Arrival testing its electric bus in the UK; a relaxed two weeks in mobility. Happy new year!?

TaaS (Transportation-as-a-service) ????

RushOwl is a Singaporean company focused on the bus commute vertical, for corporates and schools. Congrats, the company just raised ±$500K.?

Padam takes a look back at 2021. In June the company was acquired by Siemens, and during 2021 worked in France, the UK, Canada, Italy, Germany and Scandinavia. In the UK, the company started operations in Lincolnshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey and Gloucestershire.??

Moia and Vay to launch driverless vehicles in Hamburg in 2022. Moia will power minibuses with Vay’s teledriver solution. Utah Transit Authority wins the 1st annual Via partner impact award.?

Ride-hailing ??

Bolt’s plan to allow drivers to set their own prices is still subject to further discussions with TfL. A TfL spokesman said that TFL’s job is to “ensure London private hire operators comply with the Private Hire Act and associated obligations.” Unions are against it. What is going on? Well, Bolt won’t allow drivers to set prices all of the time - but only at surge times, and only to reduce prices vs. the surge price, de facto competing with Uber and other drivers on prices. This will lead to lower prices for riders, higher market share for Bolt, and lower margin for drivers, at the same time creating an argument that drivers are not employees because they can set their own (lower) wages. {insert evil laugh}

Austin is a special place. In 2016 Uber & Lyft ceased operations there due to tougher regulation, and that allowed smaller players to grow. The ride-hailing giants came back in 2017, but Austin is home to some interesting niche solutions: Earth Rides specialising in electric vehicles; Wridz is working on a monthly subscription fee from drivers; SendaRide door-to-door healthcare services, with drivers averaging about 55 years old and coming from the health industry; Kidcaboo specialising in school transport with drivers requiring to have at least 3 years of child care experience; and more.?

Cabify is facing challenges in Madrid. Cars and drivers are regulated in Spain, and Cabify is in dispute with Auro, who supplies 1,100 vehicles and drivers to Cabify. Aura’s CEO want to switch to Uber, which means Cabify lose its #1 place in the Spanish capital.?

Google is partnering with Lyft and Kakao Mobility to bring their driver apps to Android Auto. Didi lost ￡4.7bn in the first 9 months of 2021. Revenues in China fell by 5% in Q3. Saudi Arabia tops the list for using the Uber app the most when traveling abroad.?

Micromobility ????

Lime concludes 2021 - 80 new cities, 250M rides, 4th generation e-bikes & e-scooters while taking cars off road.?

TechCrunch predictions for 2022: more e-bikes, smarter scooters, integration with transit planning apps and with public transit, monetization by selling data and with the metaverse (yes…) by the current micromobility and ride-hailing players.?

Bolt introduces a tandem riding prevention system, and is now the 1st to do so. The company is also rolling out its cognitive reaction test, aimed at helping to prevent intoxicated riding, and is testing a skid braking prevention system

Flying cars ??

Four trends that shaped 2021 are SPACs, infrastructure, orders and auto; 2022 will be about certification - and more automotive investments and more SPACs. Joby Aviation unveils second prototype air taxi, after receiving certifications for experimental flights.?

Autonomous ??

TuSimple completes its first driverless autonomous truck run on public roads, completing a one-hour and 20 minutes 80 mile run without human intervention. The company has orders for a total of 6,875 trucks. Waymo plans fleet of self-driving, all-electric robotaxis with Chinese automaker Geely. The cars will be designed in Volvo, owned by Geely, in Sweden. Mobileye and Zeekr (Geely) expand partnership. Large scale driverless trials? in Milton Keynes.?

In other news ??

GETT CEO on the company’s transition. From ride-hailing operations in 2010 to becoming a global software vendor. Today, ? of revenue is from B2B operations. GETT is looking to improve its GTM operations and plans on European expansion.?

Arrival is starting trials of its electric bus;? to be in the market in Q2/2022. Optibus partners with Falcon Coaches. Optibus partners Enel X to optimise electric bus management.?

An Atlantic long read of a personal take of what is causing America’s truck driver shortage. Reasons are plenty: it is hard, lonely work; low availability and high prices of healthy food; supply chain making fixing vehicles harder, causing increased down time; bad pay. The older population that works in the profession is retiring, and not enough people are coming in. At one point, Dariusz, the driver, is quoted: “It [truck driving] has allowed me to support my family, put both my kids through college…”. In today’s world, that can no longer be true.?