Mobility as Campaign Strategy
- Steve Madden and Johnnie Walker have partnered with Latino advocacy group, Voto Latino to offer discounted Lyft rides to polls in Dodge City, Kansas. A recent survey claims 29% of all youth cited transportation issues as a reason why they didn’t vote. LINK
- Fiji’s largest taxi fleet has vowed to use its vehicles to help campaign for a political party.LINK
- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti(D) Proposes Free Metro Rides on Election Day. “A lack of transportation should never stand between a voter and the polls,” Garcetti said. “Every vote counts in this democracy, and we have to do everything we can to help Americans exercise our most fundamental right.” LINK
The Taxi Battle of London
- Addison Lee and Oxbotica say they will have self-driving taxis in London within three years. The two businesses say they will pool their expertise and resources to explore the operation of self-driving car services that are safe and environmentally sustainable. Part of their work together will be developing digital maps for over 250,000 miles of London’s public roads. LINK
- Lyft has acquired Blue Vision Labs, a London-based AR startup which specializes in mapping street layouts using car-mounted smartphones, to boost its self-driving car tech and open its first UK office. LINK
- Gett becomes the first ride-hailing app to offer TX Electric taxis (AKA Electric Iconic Black Cabs) in London. The service is currently available from 10:00 to 20:00, Monday to Friday in Central London. LINK
- Uber plans to go all-electric by 2025in London. LINK
Trump administration has ordered the French transportation company Transdev to stop transporting school children in a self-driving vehicle in Florida … says vehicle doesn’t comply with school bus regulations. LINK
- FLASHBACK: Florida town is first in the world to test self-driving “school buses”. The shuttles will carry 12 children at a “no running in the halls” 8 mph. Buses will have safety assistant on board. LINK
A growing number of auto dealers around the country are seeing a noticeable drop in retail sales and customer traffic in showrooms … sparking fears that a long-expected decline is here LINK
- FLASHBACK: Used-Car Sales Boom as New Cars Get Too Pricey for Many. The price gap between new and pre-owned cars has widened to a near decade high LINK
Apple’s Peloton patent connects moving self-driving cars to boost efficiency. Peloton would allow vehicles to connect physically to one another and share battery power for more efficient travel. LINK
Q: How can Lime differentiate itself from the never-ending number of scooters and bike sharing companies entering the market?
A: Open a brick-and-mortar ‘lifestyle store’. LINK
Berlin’s Tier, which has just over 1,000 downloads on Google Play, has raised $29 million to expand its electric scooter sharing service across Europe. LINK
Ford taps ‘Breaking Bad’ actor Bryan Cranston to boost image and sales. The ads by Wieden + Kennedy — the agency behind Nike Inc.’s Colin Kaepernick commercial — will reach 90% of American adults, according to Ford. They’re aimed at changing the negative narrative with plenty of attitude and takes shots at Silicon Valley (and Elon Musks) penchant for pontificating. LINK
Red Bull transforms bus shelter into a vending machine. The campaign offers commuters a chance to win $280k worth of prizes in their national consumer promotion. LINK
- FLASHBACK: Australian insurance company transforms bus shelter into a jukebox (or Bus Stop Spotify if you will). to sell car insurance to bus riders. LINK
Uber is developing an on-demand staffing business called Uber Works. Through a new app, they would provide events and corporate functions with temporary workers, such as servers or event staff. The company has been running a pilot version of the business-to-business service for the past few months. ? LINK
Just you’d like to see a Google map of every driverless car crash in California LINK
Electric Scooter chaser noun: electric scooter chaser; plural noun: electric scooter chasers a lawyer who specializes in bringing cases seeking damages for personal injury from new forms of urban mobility. Origin: Early 20th century: from the reputation gained by certain lawyers for attending accidents and encouraging victims to sue. LINK
