Uber integrates Cityscoot’s service in Barcelona Uber will integrate the Cityscoot electric scooters in Barcelona into its App. Of course, Cityscoot users will still be able to book their trips […]
Uber will integrate the Cityscoot electric scooters in Barcelona into its App. Of course, Cityscoot users will still be able to book their trips in the company’s app as well.
Uber announced that the 633 Cityscoot electric scooters would be available in its App in the city of Barcelona. Now, there are only three cities including Barcelona, Paris and Nice where users can enjoy the service. Uber wants to be a single multimodal platform for all transportation needs. That is why the company will offer these electric motorcycles in their App.
According to its homepage, Uber tries to ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion. Uber Technologies, Inc., is an American technology company and it is founded in 2009. Its services include ride-hailing, food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package delivery, couriers and freight transportation.
Cityscoot offers full access to electric scooters throughout Paris, Nice and Barcelona through an app. Formerly, the company offered its service in Milan and Rome as well. The French company started operating 150 free floating electric scooters in Paris in June 2016. After that, it expanded its fleet to 5000 scooters in Paris, Nice, Milan and Rome in the summer of 2019.
The user can find available scooter nearby and books it free of charge for 10 minutes through the app. Of course, they can unlock it with a four digit code. What’s more, the service includes a comprehensive insurance coverage to ensure safe rentals. The strength of Cityscoot is to develop both its own software and hardware technology. In addition, the company focuses on fleet management.
In the automotive industry, we listen to two words very often. One is “MaaS” and the other is “CASE”. MaaS represents Mobility as a Service, and CASE is an acronym. It means Connectivity / Connected vehicles, Autonomous Driving, Sharing / Services/ Subscription and Electrification, respectively. In our media, we can define mobility as the optimization and better experiences for both people and goods that are moved from place A to place B.
Thus, when we think of mobility, we must understand how customers feel and think. As a result, mobility companies continue improving their experience. This process is tough, but it also gives opportunities to companies to earn money through subscription services.
Therefore, mobility can be a game changer in the automotive industry. Why? This is because original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) earn their revenue and profit by selling just their products. After selling hardware, it seems difficult to earn money continuously. However, thanks to the concept of mobility, OEMs have opportunities to earn money not only by their hardware but by software.
The reality is that many startups enter the mobility market. As a result, competition has been intensified and few of them are survived. For example, even though Cityscoot continues its operation, the company has already withdrawn several markets. Uber is also the same and withdrew the Chinese market. Therefore, each company must find its own way to compete in the market and the announcement between these two companies is an example.
Of course, the collaboration between Uber and Cityscoot does not guarantee the success of both companies in Barcelona. However, each must take further actions to improve its services. From users’ perspective, the services that they can use are changing continuously. Thus, the services are the stage of development in this sense. MaaS is the word that many people know, but the concept is still developing.
