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 Lyft-branded bikes would come to Washington. New York-based Motivate also runs docked public bike sharing networks Citi Bike in New York, Ford GoBike in San Francisco, Divvy in Chicago, BlueBikes in Boston, BIKETOWN in

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 service, owners can opt to allow users to find, book and unlock a vehicle in as little as five minutes. Currently, the app requires a minimum 60-minute lead time before a customer can pick up a vehicle. “We want to making

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 company plans to add more cars weekly until it gets to 500 by the end of the year. By early 2019, Lime says it aims to have 1,500 cars in Seattle, which would make it the single largest free-floating car-sharing program in

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 branded vehicles on the platform, Steyn said. That means a Maven member with a Tesla Model S or a Ford F-150 will be able to rent their vehicle out via the peer-to-peer car-sharing platform. Steyn said Maven plans to open

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 industry-shifting trends and recommended strategies to help incumbents adapt. Technology companies initiated the transformation. Uber acquired Otto, the self-driving trucking company, for $680m, while expanding upon a $300

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 election (77,744 combined in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania). The two 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 co

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 launch such a "subscription" service, envisioning cases where customers could, for example, use its Lexus sedan for a certain period of time and then switch to an SUV. The company will consider introducing the scheme ove

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 concrete date set for when Lime will begin offering the new service, but an application submitted to Seattle's car-sharing program in October indicates it could happen very soon. Lime's new car-sharing service would be s