After a brief summer break, The Courier is back in action. Jonah Bliss and Greg Lindsay explore what makes the urbanism of France — both old and new — work so well. But, might there be somewhere exotic in America that offers a taste of that progress? Then, Jordan Justus, CEO and Co-Founder of Automotus, drops by to discuss the state of curb management worldwide.
Tune in for the full discussion, but scroll through some images of great French streetscapes for a full visual accompaniment.
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HOT INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
E-boda boda! Ex-Tesla-er Michael Spencer has raised $9.5 million to launch Zeno, aiming to build electric motortaxis for Africa. Boda bodas are ubiquitous in cities like Nairobi, where they shuttle passengers and goods. As the company scales, it hopes to not just cut down on vehicle emissions, but to turn its swappable battery solution (think Gogoro) into a greener power source for all sorts of fuel hungry users. The seed round was led by Toyota Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from RedBlue, 4DX Ventures, Active Impact, Advantedge and MCJ.
Dashing updates: DoorDash has rolled out a few major announcements, including the new DoorDash Commerce Platform for Merchants, which looks to be a Shopify-esque suite of products for web retailers. On the courier side of things, the company has also quietly rolled out a Local Commerce Service Partner Program, a tad reminiscent of Amazon’s Delivery Service Provider program, where local companies can secure the rights to operate local deliveries on behalf of DD. The service is now live in Austin and parts of California, and seems to be the first time that W2 employees will handle dashing duty.
Legislators get the goods: Some signs of progress from California’s leaders, with the state passing bills that end automatic road widening associated with new development, as well as the redefiniton of a “major transit stop” to better ensure that more urban areas qualify for things like upzoning and parking reductions.
Megabust! Bad news for low income (or low carbon) travelers, as Megabus has cancelled popular routes nationwide, including in busy cities like NYC and DC, in the wake of its parent co’s bankruptcy. This comes hot off the heels of Greyhound’s own retreat from many markets, leaving some towns with no intercity bus service at all.
More training for Caltrain: After a years long process of electrifying its tracks, the Bay Area’s Caltrain service has switched over to its new, more frequent schedule. The operator is now more akin to a proper urban rail system (think RER or S-Bahn,) with many stops seeing a train every fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, there’s still more work to be done, as the first week of service has been afflicted with delays and cancellations.
Good news in LA: At the other end of the state, LA officials appear to finally be complying with Measure HLA, ensuring many repaved streets have proper bike and pedestrian facilities. One city over, Santa Monica is celebrating a new slice of protected bike infrastructure. And countywide, Angelenos can look forward to the introduction of Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKOs,) allowing more chefs to operate businesses out of their homes.
No well intentioned algorithm goes unpunished: Highly curious but arguably amoral New Yorkers have figured out how to game the Citi Bike rebalancing system, earning up to $6k per month. The bikesharer will compensate you for moving a bike to a hot spot that lacks supply, so folks realized they can “create” that demand by first moving all the bikes out of the spots where they’re most needed…
For all you specialized investors: New PitchBook data shows that investors that specialize in a specific industry, like say mobility, outperform generalist investors. Shout out to my colleagues at MobilityFund! ;)
Speaking of tech… Join us on October 17th for our LA #TechWeek - Mobility & Delivery Tech Happy Hour. It’ll be a great gathering of founders and funders in Culver City. RSVP now.
A few good links: Are smarter curbs just the start for smarter cities? California GHG emissions fall 2.4% due to greener cars. Padesh brings quick commerce to Iraq. Singapore intros new benefits for gig workers. Starbucks Canada partners with SkipTheDishes in Quebec. Automated trains re-activated in D.C. after decade and a half hiatus. No pun necessary, Just Eat Takeaway.com offers sex toy delivery. Scenes from last week’s Park(ing) Day.
Snag those 2-for-1 Curbivore tickets before it’s too late!
- Jonah Bliss & The Curbivore Crew
Paris, Marseille and... Hoboken? Talking Cool Curbs With Jordan Justus