What do Zoox, Zipcar, Serve, Automotus & Hayden AI Have in Common?
Plus, big city office leasing bounces back
Friends, I’m particularly excited about the amazing corporate leaders that are joining us at Curbivore this April 10th & 11th, and I think this latest round of partners really speaks to how exceptional this crop of delivery, mobility and curbside visionaries are.
We’ve got Zoox — with innovative, purpose-built AVs, Zipcar — a leader in carsharing for a quarter century, Serve — the first robotic deliverer to go public, Automotus and Hayden AI — putting computer vision at work to clear our curbs and bus lanes, and BIB — with a green vehicle to serve up enticing food and beverages.
This is your chance to meet with and hear from the leaders of the field, as well as regulators, policymakers, investors, biz devvers, media and more.
BIG CITIES BOUNCE BACK
CBRE’s studied the largest office leases of 2024, and it’s an encouraging sign for big, transit friendly mega-cities. Despite the doom-loop narrative, NYC, DC and the SF Bay Area topped the charts, while low-density sunbelt regions like Texas, Florida and Georgia saw limited new large leases.
At the end of the day, office occupants want urban amenities: nearby food and drink, shopping and transit — and that’ll drive demand back to the curb-friendly cities of yore.
PARTNER | Ride Share and On-Demand Deliveries Changing, Here’s What You Need To Know
Ride Share and On-Demand Deliveries Changing, Here’s What You Need To Know
The rideshare and on-demand delivery landscape is evolving rapidly—with rising costs, shifting consumer behavior, and a surge in retail and grocery delivery redefining how people and goods move. The 2025 Gridwise Annual Gig Mobility Report reveals key insights for restaurants, grocery stores, retailers, mobility firms, and investors.
Rising Costs & Consumer Behavior: Rideshare fares are up 7.2%, and 72.3% of consumers may cut back if prices keep rising.
Delivery Demand Surge: DoorDash retail deliveries up 34.1%, Uber Eats up 46.6%, and Macy’s retail deliveries skyrocketed by 4,500%.
Driver Earnings Under Pressure: Uber drivers are down 4% at $23.33/hr, and Lyft drivers are down 6% at $23.23/hr.
The Gig Mobility industry is at a turning point.
Get the full report now and discover what’s next for on-demand delivery and rideshare.
HOT INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
Is this a gazelle, or a series of gantry-mounted cameras? NY Governor Hochul is trying to get the Trump Administration to walk back its threats to kill congestion pricing, hoping that describing the project in Trumpian terms will get it a reprieve. Besides flattering hyperbole, the FOIAed report also has nice, simple numbers highlighting how effective the program has been. The toll cordon raised $48.6M in its first month, which means its on track to be more lucrative than London’s system.
Good news for new mobility! Bingo Tech raised $1.9M for its swappable battery system, aimed at emerging economies. The round was led by Trucks VC. Meanwhile, the parent co of Bird and Spin is finally profitable (on an Adjusted EBITDA basis) on the back of $204M in gross bookings.
Pobody’s nerfect, not even the French: Paris’ current expansion of its subway network puts the rest of Europe to shame, but even the City of Light is not immune to mood-darkening infrastructural delays. It looks like the extensions to lines 15, 16 and 17 have been pushed back to 2026-27. Back in the states, Seattle Mayor Harrell issued an executive order that hopes to speed up light rail construction by transferring power from SDOT to the Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects.
Cars! EV maker Lucid delivered 9,029 vehicles last year. Rivian moved a beefier 51,579, while claiming a profit in Q4. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s become Europe’s most valuable automaker, despite only moving 13,752 unit, by adopting a scarcity model that’s more akin to a luxury handbag maker.
Sad chart of the week, Cleveland edition: Job sprawl and stagnant population growth is a hell of a drug…
Loos in the news! LA Metro expands its public restroom network, with help from Throne Labs, ensuring over 20 stations have a decent way to do your business.
In case you’re not keeping up with national news: The GSA is shutting down chargers and looking to sell off recently purchased EVs, in a move that just screams efficiency. Meanwhile, DOGE’s public ledger of “savings” is riddled with mistakes and double-counting, much of it obvious to anyone that’s ever done anything besides Tweet loudly. And what do you know, they’ve deleted some of the much-hyped savings without owning up to it. Now that the retribution machine has its eyes aimed on ending municipal debt tax exemption, that could destabilize cities and transit agencies. And cuts to transit research will only make our roads more dangerous. And of course cuts to Section 8 vouchers will not only hurt tenants and increase homelessness, it could bankrupt the housing providers and landlords that rely on them (assumption of these vouchers has been a big part of the math that makes LA’s recent mini-boom of affordable housing work.)
A few good links: WeRide deploys robotaxis in Beijing. NYC subways are safe and only getting safer. Bolt launches a woman-driven TNC service for female passengers. NYC sadly cracks down on food vendor carts. Following SoCal’s lead, NYC looks to target point-source emissions for warehouses.
Get your Curbivore tickets!
- Jonah Bliss & The Curbivore Crew
MEET OUR NEW PARTNERS
Based in Foster City, CA, Zoox is reinventing personal transportation–building a safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable future on the road. At the core of its vision is a purpose-built robotaxi that offers the world a better way to ride. Through a combination of cutting-edge technology and a focus on the rider experience, Zoox is transforming urban mobility with its comprehensive and cohesive autonomous ride-hailing service.
Founded in 2000, Zipcar is the world's leading car-sharing network, driven by a mission to enable simple and responsible urban living. Zipcar provides 24/7 on-demand, self-service access to shared vehicles by the hour, day or week in convenient urban, college or business locations.
Serve Robotics develops advanced, AI-powered, low-emissions sidewalk delivery robots that endeavor to make delivery sustainable and economical. Spun off from Uber in 2021 as an independent company, Serve has completed tens of thousands of deliveries for enterprise partners such as Uber Eats and 7-Eleven. Serve has scalable multi-year contracts, including a signed agreement to deploy up to 2,000 delivery robots on the Uber Eats platform across multiple U.S. markets.
Automotus is the leader in automated curb management, working with cities to make our communities safer, healthier and more accessible by addressing the unprecedented rise in commercial vehicle congestion and emissions. Automotus has developed a first-of-its-kind computer vision technology that’s deployed at the curb to enable automated Smart Loading Zones, which help cities, airports, fleets and small businesses manage curb activity, make data-driven policy decisions and incentivize electric vehicle adoption—all without the need for a parking app or kiosk.
Hayden AI is pioneering real world problem solving powered by AI and geospatial analytics. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Hayden AI is already the largest provider of mobile automated bus lane enforcement systems in the United States. Our mobile perception platform helps clients speed up transit, make streets safer, and create a more sustainable future.
Business-in-a-Box builds patented mobile stores. Our store models are branded retail solutions for businesses looking to stand out and connect with customers.