The Micromobility Podcast

In today’s show, we examine the role of platforms in micromobility’s rise, and what role they might play in furthering adoption. Specifically, we cover: - What an entry into the micromobility space might look like for Apple, and how their experience in interface stepchanges puts them at a unique advantage - How autonomous cars are analogous to wormholes vs. a more tactile engaging experience of th...

Micromobility has an addressable market of more than $1.4 trillion dollars annually in the US alone, a figure that makes it more valuable than longer distance transport addressable by cars ($1.1 trillion). That’s the message in this episode where we run through the talk ‘When Micromobility Attacks’ that Horace gave at the recent Micromobility Summit in Copenhagen. Be sure to check out the slides —...

In this episode, we look at the history of the Dutch cycle infrastructure, the symbiotic tension that we'll see between micromobility and autonomous vehicles, and the intangible quality of cities with vibrant micromobility ecosystems.  We also cover:  - the recent spate of news re: the dawning scooter wars (Bird, Lime, Jump) - San Francisco's highway history - the cost comparisons for cycling infr...

On today's episode Horace and Oliver are joined by Corinne Vogel, head of operations at Smide bikeshare based in Zurich, Switzerland.  Smide is a high-end e-bike share system, with speed pedelec bikes that travel up to 30mph/45kph. It's using a completely different approach to the rapid blanket approach from e-scooter rollouts we're seeing elsewhere. It's a fascinating discussion.  Specifically, w...

In today’s show we cover the rise of scooter sharing and how different localized constraints result in different micromobility solutions blooming. Specifically:  - The scooter sharing model that Bird pioneered, why it emerged in Santa Monica and why it might not apply to other contexts. - The history from the Segway to the hoverboard, Boosted Board and on to the current scooter form factor. - The...

In this episode, we look at Marchetti's constant and why commute times tend to aggregate at under 1 hour per day.  In this episode we also cover:  - How the 1 hour daily commute has been a constant across time, and how that affects how our cities form.  - What the Marchetti's constant is, and how it has driven the explosion in shared scooters and bikes.  - The Segway, why it failed and what it can...

In this episode, we refine the micromobility categorisation and unpack why urban infrastructure is a leading indicator to adoption. We run through: 1) Why the development of batteries and small electric motors underpinned the development of micromobility, the importance of off-the-shelf componentry in providing the basis for innovation and why electric will be the dominant powertrain for the comin...

In this episode, we define the term micromobility and what is/isn’t in the categorization. We run through: 1) Why micromobility can be defined as utility focussed urban transport in sub 500kg vehicles, and predominantly electrically powered. 2) The background of how Horace came to see micromobility’s potential to disrupt the automobile industry. 3) Why e-bikes are some of the best city-based trans...

In this inaugural episode, we outline the key themes and issues we want to address in the show series including:     1) Defining micromobility - what is it, where did it come from and why does it matter?  2) The disruptive potential of micromobility. With this, we will unpack why the current fixation on autonomy with automobiles is misplaced, and what a distributed, connected robot of micromobilit...