At this point it’s not exactly news that it’s a tough fundraising environment out there for new mobility startups, especially ones with a hardware focus. That’s what makes it all the more impressive that Joseph Cohen was able to raise $9 million for Infinite Machine, with the round led by a16z. While Joe might not have a transport hardware background, he dreamt up an eye-catching vehicle — the P1 — that he hopes will get urban Americans out of cars and onto more sustainable two-wheelers.
He’s got big plans for the company’s post-$10k halo vehicle: cargo-oriented haulers, three-wheelers, and more. We talk about that, his design background, how he sold Andreessen on his vision and so much more, in today’s turkey-tastic edition of The Courier. Listen in!
CYBER MONDAY SAVINGS - 2 FOR 1 TICKETS
We’re starting our Cyber Monday sale just a little bit early, meaning you can get two Super Early Bird tickets to Curbivore for the price of one! Join the world of mobility, delivery and the curb’s movers and shakers this April 10th and 11th and bring a friend — meaning each ticket works out to just $97.
HOT INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
Thanksgiving travel stats! Today’s the big turkey day, so it’s time to review all the fun infographics on transport trends nationwide. AAA + INRIX find that approximately 79.86 million Americans will move about, with the 71.7 million drivers surpassing the pre-covid high water mark. (Looking through some past INRIX releases, a GenAI partnership with Caltrans and a new curb optimization tool also caught our eye.)
Lyft’s leavers… Lyft also has some travel stats of its own, also concluding that Tuesday and Wednesday were likely to be traffic-pocalypses. The TNC also has fun data on which cities see jumps in bar patronage, and which see declines: think of that as data on which cities attract itinerant yuppies (DC, SF) and where folks flee from (Omaha, El Paso.)
Transit rebounds: While we’re thinking about transportation stats, LA Metro is celebrating its second month in a row of over a million daily riders, meaning weekday usage is now at 86% of pre-covid norms, while weekends have reached an impressive 97.5% recovery. Up in the bay, Caltrain is also finally seeing strong ridership gains as of late, in stark contrast to other SF-area operators. For both the lesson is pretty simple: improve service, build new infrastructure and keep fares low. Duh!
What went wrong in Denver? But just building new rail does not guarantee good ridership. The Denver region has been on a tear, but usage has not particularly followed, with the sorry trend only worsening post-covid. An analysis finds that despite spending billions, the region’s trains are generally slow, stations are surrounded by parking lots, and service is infrequent.
Bye bye Big Apple dining sheds: Tomorrow is officially the last day for NYC’s remaining outdoor dining setups, which kept restaurants afloat and enlivened streets from the pandemic onward. Restaurateurs will need to apply for new permits, and then either store their buildouts somewhere until April 1st (or destroy them and build new ones - how green!) but that’s looking particularly unpopular. Only 1,412 restaurants have applied for the new permits, about 10% of what existed under the previous, more permissive regime. In their place, NYC will squeeze in a few more street parking spots, joining the three million that already exist citywide. Across the Hudson, the state of New Jersey just passed a law to keep similar structures in use in perpetuity. Over in SF (cue mental image of the iconic New Yorker cover,) neighborhood busy bodies are looking to kill a beloved neighborhood cafe’s outdoor dining setup due to an offending cactus.
Not so friendly Great White North: Ontario’s conservative government is looking to really make a mark for itself, voting to rip up a series of new bike lanes in Toronto. And if that wasn’t enough, they’ve effectively put the kibosh on new bike lanes, as they’ll now require provincial approval, while speeding up freeway construction. Often we think of empowering higher level government as a good way to get around the NIMBYism that can slow down progressive transportation and housing projects, but this shows the system can cut both ways…
Will California renew EV tax credit? With the incoming Trump admin threatening to kill the federal EV tax credit, California Governor Newsom is proposing to reboot a state subsidy that ended last year. If the state goes through with this, I hope they learn from last time: we ended up subsidizing automakers to the tune billions of dollars, only to see many of them move their HQs to Texas, sue the state over various clean fleet regulations, and otherwise subvert the government’s intentions. If they want taxpayer money, make them agree to play nice!
Turo ramps up Australian advertising: With growth slowing down in North America, it makes sense the carsharer wants to juice usage in overseas markets like Australia, France and the U.K.
A few good links: LifeSaver Mobile CEO talks fleet safety. What is the point of LinkNYC? Startup funding surges in California, while second tier states fall behind. Tesla and Rivian settle trade secrets lawsuit. Bike subscription startup Buzzbike closing up shop as SSU fallout continues. Is Tesla hiring teleops workers for its robotaxi dreams? Stats on how many houses short each metro area falls. Galp scraps JV to refine lithium with bankrupt Northvolt. NYCDOT ebike charging pilot deemed successful. IATR hosting committee meeting on curbside access at airports: 12/4 on Zoom. Arlington, VA expands Downtown Pedestrian Zone. SCAG receives $6M to support safe streets — that ought to be good for about 10 linear feet of new sidewalk.
MEET CURBIVORE’S 2025 LAUNCH PARTNERS
In case you missed it, we recently announced our Curbivore 2025 Launch Partners. We’re bringing together the top startups, corporate innovators, powerful regulators, thoughtful investors and influential media that drive our sector forward, April 10th and 11th in Downtown LA. Two for One Cyber Monday sale super early bird tickets are now available, and we’re still looking for a few interesting speakers. Get to know some of our Launch Partners in more details:
DoorDash is a technology company that connects consumers with their favorite local businesses in more than 25 countries across the globe. Founded in 2013, DoorDash builds products and services to help businesses innovate, grow, and reach more customers. DoorDash is building infrastructure for local commerce, enabling merchants to thrive in the convenience economy, giving consumers access to more of their communities, and providing work that empowers. With DoorDash, there is a neighborhood of good in every order.
Tranzito helps public agencies integrate new mobility into their smart cities future. Tranzito’s open-ecosystem approach seamlessly integrates the best partners and technologies to offer a customized solution.
GetScale offers pay-for-performance recruiting to help its partners attract, convert, and retain more workers. GetScale uses one-on-one conversations — powered by dedicated teams and proprietary technology — to connect, educate, and motivate individuals to start working in the gig economy. In 2023, GetScale recruited over 150k Incremental Workers for their partners in the US & CAN.
AirGarage is a technology-forward parking operator, focused on improving the 30% of downtown U.S. real estate dedicated to parking. AirGarage’s mission is to transform single-use parking spaces into dynamic, multi-use hubs.
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