Uber and Lyft had it pretty good in the beginning. The companies could roll out their services to new cities, entice a bunch of drivers and riders to their platform, and "disrupt" transit before regulators were able to stop them. It was a playbook that worked for a while, until the people who made the rules started to catch up. Now, city officials and regulators have been less than enthusiastic when new transportation startups start to move in. In many ways, rideshare companies have made life difficult for the scooter companies trying to follow in their path.
This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED transportation writer Aarian Marshall joins us to talk about the future of Uber and Lyft, and whether all those micromobility startups will be able to keep scooting along.
Show Notes:
Read Aarian’s story about how ride-hail companies have made life difficult for scooter startups here. Read more about California’s Assembly Bill 5 here. Read more about Prop 22 here. Also, follow all of WIRED’s coverage of scooters and the gig economy.
Recommendations:
Aarian recommends starting a regular yoga practice, and investing in some yoga blocks. Mike recomments A Year With Swollen Appendices by Brian Eno, which has just been re-released in a 25th anniversary edition. Lauren recommends the Sway podcast from The New York Times, hosted by Kara Swisher.
Aarian Marshall can be found on Twitter @AarianMarshall. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.
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