Movements | April 17th, 2020
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Issue #89 - 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.
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Micromobility
An interview with Trek’s CEO. "Before the government came in and told people to stay at home the bike business was super strong, then all of a sudden the stay-at-home orders came out and there was actually a mini bike boom. And we also know anecdotally from everyone that more and more people are riding bikes”. | Bicycle Retailer
Bird shares a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how automotive and aerospace engineering built the Bird Two scooter. “A few days after Bird Two successfully completed the 60,000 impacts, we received a call from the lab,” said Rushforth, who had requested that the testing continue until the joint finally failed. “‘Congratulations,’ they told me, ‘you broke our machine.’” | Bird
How bike rental companies are helping NHS staff get to work and avoid public transport. Related: An eBike trailer full of Bromptons. | The Independent
Boosted board riders turn to each other after the company’s collapse. | The Verge
A video interview with Lime President Joe Kraus. | Mobility Makers
Specialized is providing free bikes to ‘essential workers’ during the COVID-19 pandemic. | Specialized
Tarani Duncan shared a great overview of shared micromobility operations. | Ride Report
NABSA is tracking COVID-19 operating and pricing status for North American bikeshare systems. | NABSA
Product Launches & Updates
UberEats is testing a phone ordering feature in NYC and Miami to help people without smartphones. Users can dial the number and speak with an agent to find out about menu options and pricing and complete the payment. | NY Post
Veo introduces VeoFlex, a service to rent scooters weekly, monthly, or purchase directly. | Veo
VanMoof teased its next generation eBike models, the S3 and X3. The company plans to have a live stream launch event April 21st. | The Verge
Ridehailing & Delivery
Amazon to Suspend Delivery Service That Competes With UPS, FedEx. | WSJ
A great thread outlining the challenges of online grocery delivery during COVID-19 from the co-founder of delivery app Farmstead. “The main bottleneck is that most online grocery delivery is run out of large grocery stores. Tough places to run ecommerce logistics. Imagine if buying a shirt online from H&M meant someone had to go to a physical mall to shop for & buy it before delivering it to you.” | Pradeep Elankumaran
And to solve that exact problem, Amazon is testing dark grocery stores. | Matt Newberg
Amazon stops accepting new online grocery customers amid surge in demand. | Reuters
UberEats revenue surpassed Uber Rides for the first time ever. | Teddy Citrin
Data Point: “55% of Americans ordered groceries online, compared with 36% two years ago. One-third said the first time they had ever ordered groceries online was in the past 30 days.” | WSJ
The State of Parking in the Wake of COVID-19. | SpotHero
Investment & Deals
Fear of an Impending Car-Price Collapse Grips Auto Industry. “Six months from now, there will be huge, if not unprecedented, levels of wholesale supply in the market,” Dale Pollak, an executive vice president of Cox Automotive, which owns North America’s largest auto-auction company. | Bloomberg
Cities & Policy
Miami public transit is subsidizing Uber and Lyft trips after the agency suspends night time service. | Miami Herald
French cities look to set up temporary bike lane networks as they plan for life after quarantine. "The country must have solutions in place to enable the bicycle to be the principal transport mode enabling social distancing." |Le Parisien (French)
Frustrated with lack of space, DC residents are widening sidewalks themselves. | GGWASH
Coronavirus lockdowns have changed the way Earth moves. | Nature
Coronavirus and the Fragility of Auto-Centric Cities. | RMI
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