Shift Magazine - December 2020 - 9

More bike lanes on streets, such as in Paris, bring the possibility of more congestion.

for some time to come. " I think absolutely
there's an opportunity to see some of
these [changes] become lasting impacts
on infrastructure, " Kay Cheng, head of
policy initiatives at Spin, Ford Motor Co.'s
scooter service, said in September on the
Shift podcast.

TRAFFIC

In the early days of the pandemic,
traffic substantially decreased in major
metropolitan areas across the globe as
more people began to work from home
and governments mandated that people
shelter in place. Commutes dropped off,
and some roads were unusually empty.
As lockdowns were lifted, people
began to venture out more. They found
solace in forms of mobility that didn't
involve shared spaces, including cars and
micromobility. Growing personal vehicle
ownership, however, coupled with more
bike- and pedestrian-friendly lanes on
streets, comes with one major caveat:
the possibility of more congestion.
Efforts to make roads and cities friendlier for bikes and scooters, if implemented
in a way that forces cars to more-confined
roadways, could cause more traffic and

"

Investor
enthusiasm for
electrification is
strong right now.
PitchBook

"

even discourage use of personal vehicles. But if scooters, bikes and pedestrians can cooperate on public roads with
vehicles - and more consumers shift to
using micromobility over cars - COVID19 could be the cause of lasting changes
to those morning traffic jams.

PERSONAL VEHICLES

Personal vehicle ownership has seen
something of a revival because of COVID19. In many areas, people have been trading their subway passes for car keys as
they look to avoid riding in shared public
transportation.
This summer, the IBM Institute for
Business Value surveyed more than
18,000 U.S. consumers who regularly
used public transportation. Fifty-three
percent of respondents said they would
reduce or discontinue using those services in light of COVID-19. One in 4
respondents said they instead would use

their personal vehicles as their only way
of getting around.

INVESTMENT ACTIVITY

In the age of COVID-19, companies
focused on electrification and last-mile
delivery have been the main recipients
of venture investment in mobility technology, especially in the third quarter,
according to PitchBook.
" Investor enthusiasm for electrification
is strong right now, " and " delivery companies continue to benefit from the pandemic-induced surge in online shopping
and online restaurant and grocery delivery, " PitchBook says.
Going public through special-purpose
acquisition companies has been particularly attractive to electric vehicle startups, including Canoo, Fisker, Lordstown
Motors and even the controversy-ridden
Nikola Corp. Micromobility and online
auto commerce have been boosted by
the pandemic.
Shared mobility was seeing increased
investor skepticism before COVID-19,
given the companies' money-draining,
capital-intensive business models, and
the pandemic exacerbated this trend.
But PitchBook says long-term " exposure
to delivery, public-private partnerships
and the ability to scale down efficiently "
could benefit shared mobility as it relates
to venture capital. n

december 2020 * shift

9

https://www.pitchbook.com/news/reports/q3-2020-emerging-tech-research-mobility-tech https://www.autonews.com/mobility-report/auto-tech-startups-alternate-route-go-public-spac https://www.autonews.com/mobility-report/auto-tech-startups-alternate-route-go-public-spac https://www.autonews.com/automakers-suppliers/ev-makers-tap-special-purpose-firms-funding https://www.pitchbook.com/news/reports/q2-2020-pitchbook-analyst-note-a-watershed-moment-for-shared-mobility#downloadReport

Shift Magazine - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Shift Magazine - December 2020