Movements | June 11th, 2019
Issue #51 — Brought to you by Michal Naka and Adam Feldman. Join thousands of others who receive this analysis and curation of emerging mobility news in their inbox every week — subscribe now.
Micromobility
A new non-profit called ‘Lesswalk’ is buying unused bikeshare bikes from companies like Ofo and Obike and giving them to children in rural Myanmar. The company replaces the electronic locks and adds a second seat, so that siblings can cycle to school together. | Mothership
German scooter startup Tier announced it has launched in 20 markets in Europe with over 10,000 active vehicles. The company also announced new hardware in partnership with Okai. “The new more rugged Tier e-scooters are designed to last at least 12 months in operation, more than twice Tier’s current average device lifetime. Other improved features include 10″ tires and improved suspension.” | Techcrunch
Grow mobility merges with payment company Flinto. The company will help Grow develop a digital wallet to serve underbanked and nonbanked consumers in Latin America. | Techcrunch
60% of San Diego Lime riders identify as Hispanic and over 50% report an annual income of $50,000 or less. | Lime
Review of the new electric-assist bicycle by Belgian startup Cowboy. | The Verge
Facebook patents a ‘Self balancing Robotic Motorcycle’. | Patent
Amazon is creating 3D maps of the suburbs to train its new delivery robots. Sidewalk and bikelane maps are also interesting for micromobility services. “It’s collected 3D data, real-life textures, and modeled the sidewalk down to the storm drains.” | The Verge
Interview with Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole on micromobility. “We’ve accomplished more in the first 20 months of life with scooters than cities accomplished in the first 20 years of dealing with cars.” | Bird
JUMP raises eBike prices across the country. | Kyle Grochmal
Lyft rebrands Ford Go Bike as Bay Wheels and starts deploying new e-bikes. | Lyft
Ridehailing
Uber is starting to ban passengers with low ratings in the US and Canada. “Each city has its own minimum threshold which is directly related to the average rider rating in that city.” | NPR
Uber is considering developing its own bank account, as it continues to invest in financial products to grow customer loyalty and cut costs.| CNBC
Cities & Policy
Vancouver B.C. has nearly doubled bike commuting from 6.6% to 11.9% in less than 5 years, giving the city the highest rate in North America. | Fast Company
Micromobility crash lawsuits are starting to take aim at poor infrastructure. The city of Los Angeles and the California Department of Transportation were named in lawsuit after a Bird rider was hit by a car in an intersection: “The intersection where the crash occurred was in a ‘dangerously defective condition,’ the lawsuit alleges, including design, construction, maintenance, and inadequate signage.” | Consumer Reports
Interview with the CEO of electric bus startup Proterra. | Bloomberg
NACTO releases a set of best practices for managing mobility data. | NACTO
Ever wonder why NYC struggles to build transportation infrastructure? Here is a fantastic deep dive on the problem. | New York Magazine
