Our era in American business will be studied for generations. We are upending the ways Americans move around the country. Transportation and mobility has become exciting!
This snuck up on society in little bits. Uber popped up one day and started carting people around. Another day Getaround showed up and gave people a trusted platform to share their cars. Tesla seems to have broken the consumer barrier around electric cars, and entirely new automakers have shown up in Atieva and Faraday Future.
This transportation revolution is no surprise- Americans are smart and progressive! It makes sense that as our innovators topple industry after industry, the very foundation of how society moves around must be modernized.
The movement is far past grassroots now. The next generation of Great American Companies are being built. The past generation, encouragingly, is eager to bring in the new era of transportation and travel. The major automakers are all investing in both internal research and development and in partnerships with innovators in the space.
“The market for vehicle miles traveled is $5 trillion”
The move by Ford to transform itself into a “mobility company” is more than an aww shucks Bill Ford moment born of childhood sentiment. Ford is a massive public company- they’ve done their research, see the inevitability of change, and are rightfully proud of their forward strategy.
I trust that Bill Ford is sincere in his vision. I also trust that his vision has been rigorously prepared for execution. This is great. We have been doing things wrong in transportation. Now a great body of companies are rising up to get us moving forward again.
Mobility is the history of how civilizations have grown.
It is an amazingly exciting industry, which has enabled bountiful prosperity but caused great damage along the way. Now we can be serious about eliminating the problems and moving forward in new ways.
We’re excited about the role that Open Ride will play in this new world of travel. We make it far easier, more enjoyable, and less expensive to travel between cities and beyond. We’ll help connect people, continuing the movement toward more trust and openness between each other. We’ll take cars off the road, and use the ones that remain more effectively to help the environment and reduce traffic.
Ultimately, we’ll be active and energetic advocates for our present and future users, working to make their travel lives ever better.
