Spotted this relatively old (published in Oct 18, 2016) but fascinating podcast story about Uber’s battle with its Chinese’s rival Didi Chuxing for marketshare (via Bloomberg):
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/288743921″ params=”color=ff5500″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Also you can read the related article here.
Not a day passes without us seeing some major headline about global automakers and shared mobility providers working to revolutionize the mobility landscape. Last week Uber dominated the headlines when the company announced that its autonomous cars (souped up Volvo XC90 SUVs) will be available for its ride-hailing customers in Pittsburgh. And in this process, the company announced that it bought the truck automation company Otto, founded by a couple of former Google Car research engineers. This was followed by Ford’s major announcement that it intends to deliver high-volume, fully autonomous vehicles for ride sharing in 2021. In addition, the company announced that it is investing in or collaborating with four startups on autonomous vehicle development and doubling its Silicon Valley team.
This torrid pace of acquisitions, expansions, and investments has created a confusing picture for the consumers about who owns what and who is doing what across the domain. I found this Business Insider graph (seen below), part of a big research report (cost $495) very useful in understanding the ecosystem that covers the auto OEMs, suppliers, startups, shared-mobility service providers, etc. Though it doesn’t capture all the entities, particularly the start-ups, engaged in automated vehicle research/development, it makes a decent attempt to organize them into “bins.”
With heavy influx of venture capital money competing alongside deep pocketed organizations like Ford, GM, Tesla, Google, Uber etc, the race to build the unmanned taxis is now reaching breakneck pace. The traditional OEMs are on a buying spree or making deals with innovative start-ups, in and outside the Silicon Valley. It is safe to say that pretty much all the automotive heavyweights in Detroit and Silicon Valley are vying for a slice of the lucrative yet untapped “autonomous shared-mobility” space. What I’d like to see someone take a stab at capturing/mapping all those entities involved (incl. those in finance, data warehousing, etc) and present that in an infographic. All I can comfortably say today is buckle up for the ride! It will be a while before this ecosystem stabilizes and be assured that there will be a steady stream of headline grabbing news is coming your way.
A new TRB report, Shared Mobility and the Transformation of Public Transit examines the relationship of public transportation—including paratransit and demand responsive services—to shared modes, including bikesharing, carsharing, microtransit, and ridesourcing services. The research included participation by seven cities: Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC. The report’s conclusion sets out actions that departments, and other local and regional agencies—can take to promote useful cooperation between public and private mobility providers. It also suggests regulatory enhancements, institutional realignments, and forms of public-private engagement that would allow innovation to flourish while still providing mobility as safely, broadly, and equitably as possible (via FHWA)
New TRB report, Shared Mobility and the Transformation of Public TransitThe simple math of owning a car vs. not owning one marks the paradigm shift in attitudes among generations. What was once not feasible – living without a car – has now become easy (at least in many cities across the US), thanks to location-based, on-demand transportation solutions such as Uber and Lyft. In a Business Insider article, Katherine Krug, summarizes her car-free life in San Francisco.
Since giving up my car (in Oct’ 2013) , I now spend an average of $572 per month on transportation, which comes to $11,352 per year in savings. On top of that, I get back my time, the most valuable thing of all. I save an average of 6.5 days per year — almost a full week! — to focus on the things I want to be doing, rather than serving my car.
What caught my attention is the last sentence – Katherine’s elation about not “serving” her car. If this is how the youngsters feel about automobiles there is no way anyone can make an argument for owning a car. Maybe we have turned a new page in America’s love affair with the automobiles (which, at times, seems untrue when you read about booming auto sales)?
In the backdrop of how not owning a car helped manage her mobility needs while also saving her a ton of cash, you would be astonished to see Sarah’s average monthly expenditures (and time associated) when she owned the car (see table below). Read more here
Image via Business Insider
via Yahoo Tech
Image courtesy: Yahoo.com “Calling for an ride after midnight? We hope you saved up for it.”
The chart comes to us via Dan Tynan’s “12 Ways to Avoid Uber and Still Get Home Safely on New Year’s Eve“. If you are one of them brave souls venturing out tonight in the West Coast cities of Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego or Seattle , I highly recommend checking out FlyWheel, who is offering a $10 flat fee rides from 8PM until 3AM. Dan Tynan has done a great job identifying the various alternatives for you to get around safely after a fun night out. One additional smartphone app that I’d like to recommend in addition to Dan’s collection is @RideScout. This mobile app will help you get from point A to point B faster and smarter. RideScout shows you real-time information about transportation options that are available right now around you, including transit, bus, bike, taxi, car share, rideshare, parking and walking directions – all in one view. Now, how cool is that!
I’d like to also use this as an opportunity to wish all my reader a SAFE & Happy New Year! Thank you for your continued support and I promise to keep you even more informed in 2015.
The ridesharing battle between Uber and Lyft has taken a fierce turn with the companies recruiting each other’s drivers, offering refunds on commissions and canceling rides to clog the system. At the end of the day, the customers are winning (and some may argue otherwise) and the ones who are losing out in this battle are the taxi companies. The staid old taxi businesses are left wondering how they can remain relevant. Click here to read the entire article.
And an interesting infograph accompanying the WSJ article that succinctly captures the details of this street fight:
Image Courtesy: WSJ
