You’ve most likely heard all the news coming out of Sin City… so I proud to present to you the “100% CES Free Edition” of This Week In Mobility. Thank you so much for reading.
How to Get Free Ride in 2018
- Method 1: Shift tax dollars and refocus political priorities. French city shocks citizens by making transit free. LINK
- Method 2: Buy a Pair of Sneakers. Adidas Partners with Berlin Transit. When worn, Sneakers acts as a valid ticket for the rest of the year. I’m going to buy one tomorrow, we report back next week. LINK
- Method 3: Flat out refuse to pay. A drunk man takes a taxi across Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Refuses to pay $2800 fare. LINK
Autonomous
- Method 4: Be Bill Gates. Microsoft founder gets caught in San Francisco downpour. Gets free Zoox Robo Taxi ride. LINK
- A startup called Amber will deploy driver-less cars in Holland this year—but they’ll move only by night. LINK
Uber
- Uber agreed to pay “up to” $3 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of 2,421 NYC drivers. Uber accused of docking excessive fees from their fares. How much is that after Lawyer fees? LINK
- Travis selling a third of his stake in Uber for $1.4 billion. LINK
Who is buying Fiat Chrysler?
The Italian-American automakers’ sales are down 33% year over year, but this week on heavy trading volume shares surged more than 20%. How Gangster would it be if its actually Travis? LINK
Mobility is Local
- Ride-sharing services banned by Perth, Australian Stadium. LINK
- Ride-sharing services welcomed with open arms by Orlando, Florida Stadium. LINK
China
- Chinese Ride-sharing service, Didi-Chuxing launches a bike-sharing service. LINK
- Chinese Bike-sharing service, Mobike Chuxing, sells 10% stake in the new car-sharing unit to a Car Co. LINK
- China expects smart cars with partially or fully autonomous functions to account for 50 percent of new vehicles sold in the country by 2020. LINK
- Ford CEO says China will take the lead in Electric Vehicle area LINK
- More Chinese cities are accepting Mobile payment apps for subway and bus rides. LINK
Mapzen, the open source startup used by civic tech organizations, app developers, and government agencies, shutters. LINK
- Transportation Department teams up with Waze on new safety initiative. LINK
