Nov 16, 2019

Lyft pulls scooters out of six major cities

Fadel Allassan

Photo: Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Lyft is removing its electric scooters out of San Antonio, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix, Columbus and Nashville, as the company explained it will shift resources to markets where it "can have the biggest impact," CNET reports.

The big picture: The dockless, rentable, electric scooter trend started with just a couple companies operating in a handful of cities. "Now it's a competitive land grab, with more than a dozen operators that've dropped scooters in hundreds of cities around the world," CNET writes.

  • Lyft will continue to operate its scooters in 13 markets, including Denver, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.
  • The ride-hailing company will also lay off 20 employees from its bike and scooter team.

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Joann Muller

Managing data from all those dockless scooters

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

A new consortium is trying to wrangle how to manage and share data gathered from all those dockless scooters and e-bikes popping up in cities.

Why it matters: Scooter and bike trip patterns can yield a lot of valuable information that public agencies can use to manage their infrastructure and set regulations. But the push for data access also raises concerns about privacy.

Go deeperArrowDec 13, 2019
Kia Kokalitcheva

Scooter company Spin's San Francisco workers unionize

Photo: Interim Archives/Getty Images

San Francisco-based maintenance workers for Spin, a scooter rental company owned by Ford, have voted to unionize and joined a local Teamsters chapter, making them the first in the scooter industry to do so.

Why it matters: Scooter companies ruffled a lot of feathers when they showed up in San Francisco (and other cities), which has long been skeptical of tech companies using independent contractors to skirt some labor costs.

Go deeperArrowDec 12, 2019
Kia Kokalitcheva

New York City ride-hailing upstart Juno shuts down

Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Juno, an upstart ride-hailing company in New York City, is shutting down as part of a new partnership between parent company Gett and Lyft. Gett's corporate customers will now be able to book rides via Lyft in the U.S., and some Belarus-based employees are joining Lyft, the latter tells Axios.

Why it matters: When Juno burst onto the scene in 2016, ride-hailing drivers were attracted to its promise of a better job, including potentially providing company equity someday. But that promise unraveled when Juno sold to Gett the following year and admitted there was no legal way to do so.

Editor's note: The story has been updated with details about Gett employees joining Lyft.

Keep ReadingArrowNov 18, 2019