We’re Proud to Partner with CoMotion!
Attend the world's leading future mobility conference, CoMotion LA, on Nov. 13-14, exploring the multimodal, decarbonized mobility revolution and don’t miss the OMF Summit on Nov. 12, looking at advancements in mobility-focused data and digital tools like the Mobility Data Specification and Curb Data Specification.
Join us in the heart of Downtown LA and join a global community of public and private sector leaders, innovative companies, speakers, and mobility stars. Be part of a three-day conference with stellar programming, engaging panels, workshops, demos, networking, energizing talks — and after-hours gatherings.
🎟️ Register now, use discount code “Curbivore” and save 25% off!
Podcast: Rick Neubauer, Founder & CEO of Umojo
In this week’s edition of The Courier, Jonah chats with Rick Neubauer, Founder and CEO of Umojo. Rick’s mobility journey is an interesting one, with Umojo getting its start in the glamorous world of parking management. But as the action shifted to the curb, Rick sensed an opportunity, and now Umojo’s NexCity software helps cities like San Jose, Seattle and Minneapolis keep their streets and sidewalks well orchestrated. With an eye to the future, Rick also senses a few complementary uses for his tech that most cities haven’t unlocked yet.
Tune in above (starting at 20:45) or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, plus hear the latest from Greg and Jonah on transit ballot measures, supply chains, and the financial results from the likes of Uber and Yum! Brands.
Mobility Mixer - Dinner, Drinks & After Party (Weds, 11/13)
Next week’s a big one for mobility in LA, with the OMF Summit, CoMotion LA and Micromobility America all coming together. Tap into the best of each world with our lively Arts District after party, bringing together top public and private sector minds.
It’s this Wednesday, with your friends from Curbivore and Umojo, and it promises to be an evening of good food, great drinks and engaging conversation from 7:30 to 9 PM.
HOT INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
Rove brings a new flavor of charging to Orange County: Trying to take our minds off the horrible state of the world, earlier this week
(of Sustainable Mobility) and I went on a road trip allllll the way to Orange County. No, we weren’t trying to understand the id of purple America, we were there to check out Rove, a new gas station-esque charging brand, now open in Santa Ana.
The facility felt like a high end vehicle service center, where 40 fast chargers, some Tesla and others ABB, met with essentials like a car wash and *free* tire air / vacuums. Rove has also partnered with regional upmarket grocer Gelson’s to launch ReCharge by Gelson’s, which felt like the bougiest 7-Eleven you’ll find this side of Tokyo. For all the schmanciness of the store, it did oddly lack a beer and wine selection, a traditional profit center for California convenience stores.
While the c-store was only open 6 AM to 8 PM, the facility also had a 24 hour area with vending machines, restrooms and cellphone chargers — this spot feels like it’ll be popular with EV Uber drivers working the night shift. Also worth noting, a lot of the Tesla chargers were already out of order. While a station attendant (ooh, now nice!) assured me that the flagged-off charger would in fact work, 30 minutes and one pre-packaged sushi meal later I found that the human was, in fact, incorrect.
There seemed to be plenty of staff and managers on site discussing company policies, so I’ll chalk that up to the business still being new. Hopefully they iron out the kinks before the go for 20 more stations by the end of 2026.
OC Streetcar speeds along: One mile south, an even greener form of mobility is about to launch, with OC Transit putting the final touches on its forthcoming 4.15 mile streetcar. While the Ray LaHood era of the FTA bore a bunch of middling streetcar projects that worked better as economic development catalysts than true transportation projects, this one looks to have some decent potential.
Its northern stretch is grade separated, flying over busy Westminster Ave and the Santa Ana river on the way to a transit center. And while parts of the southern side do sadly mix with traffic, the project also includes some properly protected bike lanes, as well as an integration with a Metrolink commuter rail station, meaning this train could end up with halfway decent ridership.
Real geeks will want to know that part of the line retraces an old Pacific Electric route, and that Santa Ana sports density of about 11,000 folks per square mile, comparable to Philadelphia. A more ambitious light rail project — CenterLine — died in the early 2000s due to the region’s congressional representatives withholding support.
More transit coming, nationwide: Something to take solace in after this week’s election… the people still want public transit! (It just turns out that also don’t want whoever’s reign coincided with higher inflation, a thermostatic response we’re seeing worldwide.) In California, Prop 4, a $10 billion climate-related bond, flew through with a huge majority. Red states said yes to mobility as well, with measures passing in the likes of Arizona, Ohio and Tennessee. Sadly, the Atlanta suburbs rejected a transit sales tax for the umpteenth time, while measures in San Diego are still too close to call.
Lyft gets back into AVs: The pink mustache is tickling its way back into the robotaxi race, thanks to new partnerships with May Mobility, Mobileye and Nexar. This picks up where previous attempts at autonomy, with the likes of Motional and Argo AI, have fallen short.
Go go Bingo: Bingo is launching its one-stop marketplace for LEVs and battery swapping / storage systems, debuting at the International Motorcycle and Accessories Exhibition in Milan. Chief Revenue Officer and friend of the curb Alex Nesic tells us, “our conversations with businesses looking to get into last mile fleet delivery operations revealed a recurring theme - they wanted a faster and more reliable way to launch that reduced the risk and pitfalls of trying to figure it all out themselves. We knew that our collective experiences in operations and battery swapping, relationships with OEMs and a world class fleet software could translate into a highly desirable platform and playbook that could be adopted to ensure success for our customers.”
A few good links: KIA unveils futuristic, Canoo-looking electric SUVs. Formant and Holman partner on cloud robotics platform. Picnic raises $5 million for pizza automation.
See you next week at our mobility dinner and after party!
- Jonah Bliss & The Curbivore Crew
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