
Lyft is ceasing scooter operations in six cities and laying off 20 employees - prostoalex
https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/14/lyft-is-ceasing-scooter-operations-in-six-cities-and-laying-off-20-employees/
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mdorazio
It makes sense and I'm actually surprised more micromobility providers haven't
pulled out of less-profitable markets already. There's so much competition in
the space because the barrier to entry is quite low, leading to unit economics
only making sense if a city is both 1) friendly to scooters in terms of
regulations, and 2) an ideal use case for scooters in terms of density,
weather, and demographics.

It will also get worse if gig economy workers get classified as employees in
more markets since chargers might fall under that category, bumping up the
operating costs quite a bit.

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doctorpangloss
Lyft and Uber bought the scooters and bikes to kill them.

They’re almost as good as driverless taxis. The only occupant of a bike or
scooter is the passenger. Obviously they’re not the same thing technologically
but when a passenger chooses a scooter or bike there is no driver to pay, so
it’s economically very similar.

Jump could get you anywhere in the city, it outcompeted rideshare. Uber
literally doubled the price and stopped maintaining the fleet, it is in their
interest to kill it. Lyft scooters like all scooters have an intense enemy
action (vandalism) problem so I’m less confident it’s an embrace-extend-
extinguish play. But how else could you rationalize wrecking a platform
cheaper, more efficient and more convenient than cars that _eliminates the
driver_?

Drivers are not at all competitive with micro mobility.

~~~
Terretta
Strongly agree... I see they are pulling out of PHX.

With Lyft scooters _everywhere_ in Scottsdale Old Town where’d the’ day
launched this past spring, I was consistently able to get door to door from
hotel to stores within ~2-3 miles in half the time on scooters vs. the latency
of waiting for a car to show up.

Since the area is one giant strip mall, most trips I had finished my errand
and come back on scooter before an Uber or Lyft would have ‘completed prior
ride’ and eventually found its badly navigated Waze to me.

Local press reports how visitors love the scooters, locals (with cars) hated
seeing them everywhere:

 _”Electric scooters aim to solve the last-mile problem—those gaps between
public-transit stops and a person’s final destination. Some locals consider
them a nuisance, but for travelers, they offer a new sense of possibility.”_

[https://apple.news/Arr73LXB6RK-ECfAnzZixSw](https://apple.news/Arr73LXB6RK-
ECfAnzZixSw)

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kbar13
I rode all sorts of scooters in San Diego (That city is just filled to the
brim with scooters). Lyft’s were the best by far. Easy to use app (already use
it for car rides everywhere else) and the best hardware, those scooters are by
far the fastest and smoothest compared to lime and bird.

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chillacy
I'm a big fan of micromobility but I see scooters and the eletrics being
better to own than to rent. They're much smaller than a bike, and can be
carried on a bus to handle the last 1-5 miles between a bus stop and the
destination in urban areas.

~~~
scurvy
Counterpoint, I'd much rather rent than own. I don't have to worry about
charging it, dragging it inside (and associated street scum), maintenance,
battery lifetimes.

To paraphrase Eazy-E, "throw it in the gutter and go buy another" is the best
route. Walk down the street and pick one of the dozens of scooters on the
sidewalk.

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zzleeper
The problem is that at current costs, you would have to pay close to $8 per
ride for renting to break even for firms. And at that point you might as well
get a lyft/uber.

~~~
beatgammit
And it's pretty worry free, just plug it in when you're not using it and stick
it next to your desk or front door or something. They're not very big, and
only the small wheels really get dirty, so it's really quite reasonable to
own. If something breaks, you could throw it out and buy a new one for less
than renting, and you don't need to worry about paying per use or finding a
scooter if you're in an odd part of town. And if it gets stolen, go back to
renting until a new one is delivered. Or keep two so you can ride with a
friend occasionally and never worry about being out of a scooter for a couple
days if one breaks or gets stolen.

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scurvy
These are all things that take more effort than just renting. Not everything
in life is an economics decision.

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wpietri
People may enjoy this piece on micromobility from Monday Note:
[https://mondaynote.com/the-micromobility-
mirage-a814e6e126be](https://mondaynote.com/the-micromobility-
mirage-a814e6e126be)

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bredren
Bikes in the bay are next.

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jquery
I'm curious to see the path to profitability for Uber and Lyft's multi-modal
strategies (scooters, biking). Right now it's a land grab, but I'm unconvinced
the land is worth more than the purchase price. Perhaps it's valuable as part
of a larger strategy but I have my doubts those bike trips are profitable on
their own.

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dwoozle
They don’t need to make the scooters profitable — they just need to make sure
that the scooters don’t displace Uber and Lyft rides. They just need to make
sure the scooters are crappy, broken, and annoying to get the world to turn
against scooters and stick with Uber and Lyft rides.

~~~
oefrha
Given how non-motor vehicle unfriendly most roads are in the U.S., I don’t see
scooters take off in most places any time soon, even if managed as well as
humanly possible.

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staticautomatic
Wtf is "micromobility"? That is some gross jargon. This stuff needs to stop.

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lm28469
Anything too far for walking and too close/annoying for car/public transports.
What people used to own bikes for, but now, thanks to capitalism, you can
endlessly spend money on inferior options and never own one, yay! Double yay!
if you live in Europe and all that money is going to foreign companies which
don't pay local taxes.

