WASHINGTON — Ride hailing company Lyft, which recently jumped into the dockless electric scooter business in D.C., has completed its planned acquisition of Motivate, the company that operates the city’s long-established public docked bike operator Capital Bikeshare. The deal was first announced in July. Lyft also unveiled a first look at its own Lyft Bikes, which it says it will launch in a handful of new cities across the country starting next year. It did not say if or when

Turo, the peer-to-peer car-sharing company described as the “Airbnb of cars,” is rolling out a new product that will let users locate and unlock cars right from the app. The new product, called Turo Go, is a dongle and an accompanying service that aims to bolster the number of cars and users on its platform. The product is designed to remove a barrier of entry — the time required to physically exchange keys — that once was a hallmark of the platform. As part of the Turo Go se

San Francisco-based startup Lime has spent the last year scattering an assortment of brightly colored scooters and bikes around American cities, arguing such services will reduce car use and traffic problems. But even Lime can’t quite sever ties with the automobile. Starting this week, the company will start spreading around Lime-branded cars, too. Lime is launching a car-sharing service in Seattle this week, starting with the placement of 50 vehicles on city streets. The com

GM’s car-sharing subsidiary Maven is undergoing another expansion. This time, it’s not just to a new city. Maven plans to open up its new peer-to-peer car rental service to allow owners to rent out non-GM vehicles. It is also setting its sights on bigger changes in the future, according to Julia Steyn, vice president of GM Urban Mobility and Maven, said Monday during a presentation at the UBS Global Technology Conferencein San Francisco. By mid-2019, Maven will allow non-GM b

The rise of autonomous vehicles will cause a tectonic shift in the mobility industry―and incumbents must evolve along with it. Toptal Insights shares how automakers can position themselves to flourish in the new era of mobility. Once a concept confined to science fiction, autonomous vehicles are well on their way to becoming reality. Tech companies, soon followed by traditional auto manufacturers, have been betting big on the space. In this article, Toptal Insightsshares ind

The ride-hailing giants provided more than 91,000 rides on an average day in the second quarter of this year, according to ridership reports the companies filed with the city of Seattle. They are on pace to provide more than 31 million trips this year. Every day in the Seattle region, Uber and Lyft provide more rides than: Sound Transit light rail (77,576 rides on a typical weekday). The population of Bellingham (89,045). The number of votes that decided the 2016 presidential

With its new car sales declining, Toyota is exploring business opportunities that do not depend on its traditional business model of producing and selling automobiles. Toyota Motorwill next year launch a service that will allow customers to try various car models for a fixed monthly fee in Japan. The new offering is part of the company's efforts to explore new business opportunities that do not depend on new car sales alone. Toyota will become the first Japanese automaker to

Lime will test car-sharing service in Seattle Bike- and scooter-sharing startup Lime is looking to test car rentals in Seattle, according to a report from The Information. Lime, which launched in early last year and operates in markets across 26 US states, has boastedthat its scooters have taken cars off the road in cities where it operates. Now, it's reaching for a piece of the growing car-sharing market with a small host of around 500 cars made by Fiat Chrysler. There's no