Movements | March 26th, 2019

Congestion Pricing in NYC, Uber buys Careem, and Lyft launches Driver Services.

Issue #40 — Brought to you by Michal Naka and Adam Feldman. Join thousands of others who receive this weekly analysis and curation of emerging mobility news in their inbox every week — subscribe now.

Transit

White-paper: Why cities need mandatory open Mobility APIs. | Transit app

China’s electric buses are displacing demand for oil. | Bloomberg

Apple Pay is coming to major US transit systems such as NYC, Chicago, and Portland later this year. | TechCrunch

Micromobility

Spin partners with Zagster for city operations.“Vehicle maintenance may not be the flashiest side of the micromobility industry. But instead of flaunting astronomical growth numbers, we would rather commit to investing in a behind-the-scenes infrastructure, one that will make our riders safer in the long-term.” | Spin

Riding an e-scooter to escape civilization. | Gizmodo

TNCs

Bolt (formerly Taxify) is expanding into the food delivery business in Europe and Africa. | Bloomberg

Grab vs. Go-Jek: Inside Asia’s Battle of the Super Apps. | Fortune

Lyft launches Lyft Driver Services: a no fee bank account and debit card, driver services centers with faster and cheaper maintenance services, and increased access to EVs and hybrid vehicles at a discount. | Lyft

Deals & Investments

Uber to pay $1.4 billion cash, $1.7 billion convertible notes to acquire Middle East ridehailing rival Careem. | Bloomberg

Berlin based carsharing startup Miles raised a $5 million dollar Series A. The round was led by Lukasz Gadowski, co-founder of EU scooter startup Flash. Miles is a free-floating carshare system with pricing based on distance, not time. | EU Startups

Cities & Policy

It’s finally happening! Congestion pricing is almost certainly coming to NYC now that it’s cleared the state legislature and has the support of the governor. Once it gets implemented, look for other big US cities to follow suit. | NY Times

Sacramento plans to charge JUMP to fund enforcement of bike and scooter parking. “Sacramento plans to charge JUMP $104 per device annually for city staff to monitor parking… Bikes or scooters found to be blocking public access could be assessed a $15 fine. Operators would also be required to reimburse the city for lost parking meter revenue resulting from bike racks and hubs.” | CBS Sacramento

Bengaluru, India suspends Ola’s license for 6 months after it was found to operate illegal bike taxis. | The News Minute

San Diego evicts its docked municipal bikeshare program.“Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, said it was unfortunate that DiscoverBike faced so many challenges — all of which were compounded by the city’s lack of a connected network of safe, comfortable bike lanes.” | KPBS

NYC’s TLC added a ridehail surchage and the increased prices have impacted rider demand at Lyft and presumably others “Passenger prices increased 24%. Rides dropped 26%, and in turn, driver earnings dropped 15%.” | Lyft

How Hong Kong’s mass transit system funds itself. | The Guardian