Insight into all things transportation and mobility, covering driverless vehicles, trends in public transportation, the rise of cycling, ride- and car-share, smart city developments, ITS, and more.
It’s nearly the holiday season, yet the world is not slowing down! Lots to share this week, with big investments in on-demand transit, Uber getting into legal cannabis delivery and electric vehicles topping mayors’ lists of priorities to address climate change.
Uber is introducing a new membership program that bundles rideshares, grocery and food delivery for a monthly fee in exchange for discounts and other perks. The $9.99 monthly Uber One membership, or $99 a year offers 5% off eligible rides and delivery orders, no-charge delivery fees and more.
GoDurham (the paratransit service for the City of Durham, North Carolina) leveraged its contractor (National Express), and UZURV - an adaptive TNC to expand GoDurham’s ride options with a non-dedicated fleet of drivers. The average cost per trip has been 30 percent less than the previous sub-contractor and UZURV is achieving an average on-time percentage of 98.5 percent
The micro-transit pilot program led by L.A. Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation aims to bring rideshare to L.A. residents underserved by companies like Uber and Lyft and expand upon the agency’s existing fixed route buses and trains. The service leverages technology from the Canadian company RideCo.
On-demand shuttle and software company Via has raised another $130 million (total $800 million to date), pushing its valuation to about $3.3 billion. They landed their first city partnership deal in Austin in 2017 by offering a free trial, built case studies, and in 2019 the partnerships business took off. Today Via has about 950 employees.
Spare labs has tripled its customers and doubled its headcount over the past year, responding to needs of transit agencies during the pandemic. Now with a new round of funding, they’re well positioned for further growth.
Electric vehicles have made it to the top of U.S. mayors’ climate agendas, with 69% of mayors saying they have a specific strategy or plan to build out the charging infrastructure. Almost all of those mayors said their plans were contingent on securing funding help from federal, state or private partners though.
One problem with the transition to electric vehicles is that all the necessary chargers will clutter up sidewalks. Two charities in the UK have called on the government to make sure the new public electric vehicle (EV) charging points won’t impede pedestrians.
Universal Basic Mobility represents a shift in thinking about transportation — from an amenity to a basic human right. L.A. Metro is rolling out a pilot program that will allow users to use the same transit pass to access a bike, scooter, car, train or bus in South LA starting next summer.
A federal grant program that had become a honeypot for rural highway-building in the Trump years has pivoted in favor of projects for sidewalks, bikes and public transit.In the new tranche of almost $1 billion in RAISE grant selections in the U.S.
