Bridj, a Boston startup that tried to merge the ease of hailing an Uber with the efficiency of commuter vans, abruptly shut down this weekend after funding talks fell apart, leaving thousands of riders looking for another way to get to work. The company, which had been praised for its innovative take on urban transportation, had been in extended negotiations with a car manufacturer, chief executive Matthew George told The Boston Globe on Sunday.

“It went from clear skies to a hurricane in about 24 hours,” George said, declining to name the carmaker. “Functionally, Bridj is no more.” Bridj was launched in 2014, with ambitions to reinvent the old-school city bus. Instead of lumbering coaches, the company used sleek commuter vans equipped with wireless Internet access to ferry commuters around the Boston area.

Routes were determined, in part, by the amount of demand in a given area from users of Bridj’s smartphone app. Fares were based on demand, ranging between $1.50 and $7, according to its website.

Despite early signs of promise, including a recent one-year project with Ford Motor Co. and transit officials in Kansas City, Mo., Bridj was unable to build a sustainable business. The Kansas City test was not extended. George said that financing from the car company would have given Bridj a big vote of confidence among investors and helped it to raise additional money. Bridj has about 50 employees and had raised $11 million from investors.

“Both sides had every expectation that the transaction would close. Despite assurances, and all parties acting in the best of faith, that didn’t happen,” he wrote in a blog post announcing the shutdown.

Boston was Bridj’s largest market, with as many as 50 vehicles operating at a time. In Boston, Bridj served Allston, Brighton, the Back Bay, downtown, South Boston, and the Seaport, along with Kendall Square in Cambridge and Brookline.

Read more…. https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/04/30/bridj-local-demand-bus-service-shutting-down/56xoGs674wYgyUWdrD9EuO/story.html

Bridj’s farewell page: http://www.bridj.com/welcome#new-page

• Bridj shut down last weekend after talks with a car manufacturer failed.

Should private vehicles always have to pay for the space they consume?

In an earlier article I discussed Tokyo’s remarkable return to housing affordability in recent decades. I speculated that a cultural tolerance to intensification could be a factor in Tokyo’s switch to affordable housing following the property boom of the 1980s.

Internationally, it is unusual for a city to change its long-term pattern of affordability. Generally the experience has been for unaffordable city to remain unaffordable -perhaps due to the difficulty in achieving a societal consensus and therefore the political will to implement significant housing reforms (this seems to be the case for New Zealand in the last thirty years).

Given that Tokyo is the exception which might prove the rule, it is worthwhile looking at what other urban economic aspects the city is exceptional in.

The first and most obvious one is its size, the metropolitan area of Tokyo-Yokohama is the world’s largest urban area containing 38 million people. Interestingly, despite Japan’s declining population, Tokyo itself is still growing. Tokyo at a systemic level must have efficient mechanisms to allow it to function and grow to such a large size.

Secondly, the issue which this article focuses on is how a network of transport arteries, veins and capillaries in Tokyo are allocated by competitive forces. There are two main elements to this – carparking is not subsidised and neither is public transport. It is possible that this creates a positive systemic effect where the competitive transport mechanisms combine with competitive urban housing intensification characteristics to make Tokyo a relatively affordable city. Which as I have said is amazing given Tokyo’s size.

The Economist recently wrote an article -Parkageddon -discussing that perhaps more powerfully than anything else, parking influences the way cities look, and how people travel around cities.

Many cities mandate that residential and commercial dwellings must provide a certain proportion of car parking places. These parking minimums can boost supply far beyond what the market demands. When London abolished minimum parking requirements in 2004, research showed that the amount of parking in new residential blocks promptly plunged, from an average of 1.1 spaces per flat to 0.6 spaces.

Usually car parking minimums are justified on the grounds that free car parking is a good thing. Unfortunately, when something is free there is a tendency to overuse it -like we would if water, electricity… was free. This is especially problematic as space in growing urban areas is an increasingly limited resource and of all the transport options -the private vehicle is the one that consumes the most space. The Economist explains that minimum car parking requirements are in fact a hidden subsidy for some and cost for others.

Free parking is not, of course, really free. The costs of building the car parks, as well as cleaning, lighting, repairing and securing them, are passed on to the people who use the buildings to which they are attached. Restaurant meals and cinema tickets are more pricey; flats are more expensive; office workers are presumably paid less. Everybody pays, whether or not they drive. And that has an unfortunate distributional effect, because young people drive a little less than the middle-aged and the poor drive less than the rich.

Another Economist article -Aparkalypse now -reported that research shows that parking adds 67% to the cost of building a shopping centre in Los Angeles and a study of Washington, DC, found that the availability of free parking is associated with a 97% chance somebody will drive to work alone.

Japan has not subsidised car parking in this way. In Tokyo car parking must respond to market forces. In Tokyo cars do not park on residential streets and all car owners must show a receipt for a private car park when they register their cars. There is no assumption that cars can freely park on the street -in fact it is a foreign concept. Car parking is the owner’s responsibility to make suitable arrangements. In Tokyo, how much, if any parking is provided by new residential or commercial premises is a commercial decision. The pricing of car parks varies, for instance, parking close to train station might be say $150 a month, versus a 10 minute walk further away, where the price might be less than $100. The price varying because of competition from commuters for space close to the train station.

In the future driverless cars will make car parking redundant as residents will order a driverless car to drop them off and pick them up -so drop-off zones are all that will be needed. This will necessitate congestion road pricing to prevent excessive congestion from large numbers of zero occupancy driverless cars circling urban areas 24/7 looking for passengers. Driverless car companies will want to acquire a network of private car parks to store their cars between rides to avoid these charges. The number of car parks and their locations will be commercial decisions based around factors such as, congestion charges and other operating costs, the cost of car parking, estimated search times etc.

In the future electric vehicles will also become more efficient and be more frequently used. Fuel tax revenue from conventional combustion engine vehicles will fall and new revenue sources will be needed to fund road maintenance. This could be another factor in moving to congestion road pricing. Given the size and flexibility of Tokyo it would not be surprising if the city was an early adopter of driverless cars, electric cars and road user charging systems.

Tokyo has the world’s most concentrated collection of competitive and profitable private commuter rail companies. Japan has always had a significant minority of private railways and in 1987 with the privatisation of Japan Railways a majority of the system is now in private hands. Today there are 16 major private railways in Japan, most of them competing against the Japan Railways Group which includes 6 passenger operating companies, separated by region. The most successful, profitable and competitive part of the private railway industry is centred around Tokyo. Tokyo demonstrates that in a healthy, growing city -private railways can be successful.

I believe it is not just that Tokyo is growing in population that makes private railways a success. It is because commuter rail’s chief rival -the private motor vehicle is not excessively subsidised, which allows trains to successfully compete. In particular, not subsidising car parking means that private vehicles in Tokyo never receive hidden subsidies like they frequently do in western cities. Is there a theory which links up competitive transport and urban land markets?

Read more….https://medium.com/land-buildings-identity-and-values/tokyo-does-not-subsidise-its-transport-system-98f064f097b3

• Tokyo’s unsubsidized public transport system.

Almost exactly one year ago, the carsharing pioneer car2go opened its first Asian location in Chongqing in southwestern China. In that time, it has become clear: flexible carsharing also works in the Middle Kingdom. The demand for the smart fortwo from car2go, which is on the roads in Chongqing with the brand phrase “JiXing” (“set off immediately”), is enormous. Thanks to unparalleled growth in the number of customers, Chongqing has become car2go’s largest location worldwide after just one year.

In order to adapt itself better to the local mobility needs, car2go merges with Car2Share, the station-based carsharing program in China.

The business region of car2go in Chongqing comprises 86 square kilometers (33.2 sq mi). Originally started in April 2016 with 400 smart fortwo cars, there are now 600 cars on the streets. Klaus Entenmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Financial Services AG, is highly satisfied with these figures: “The successful market introduction of car2go in China is extremely important to us. It shows that our concept of flexible carsharing is coming up in one of the world’s largest growth markets. In this way, we are strengthening our regional, as well as global, leading role in innovative mobility services.”

Olivier Reppert, CEO of car2go Group GmbH, sees additional growth potential for the flexible carsharing service of car2go in China – and what’s more: “Flexible carsharing reduces traffic in cities, frees up valuable parking space and improves air quality. car2go is thus helping to improve the quality of life in Chongqing while at the same time fulfilling the mobility needs of residents. We are therefore convinced that we will encounter a great response to our mobility services offered in other Asian metropolises as well.”

In order to make the mobility services offered even more attractive in the future, car2go and Car2Share are merging under the roof of Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance Ltd. to form the consolidated car2go China Co., Ltd. With this move, car2go China can provide the right mobility solution for different situations. Chen Bing, CEO of car2go China, explains: “With the concentrated power and the comprehensive know-how of the car2go and Car2Share brands, we will offer our car2go China customers tailor-made mobility solutions in the future.”

• One year of “JiXing”: car2go is establishing flexible carsharing in China

Fastned, which is building a European network of fast-charging stations is expanding its network into Germany. On April 19 Fastned announced that it has acquired its first 14 locations in Germany. At these locations Fastned will build and operate stations with multiple fast chargers, that are suited to charge the next generation of EVs at power levels of 150 kW to 350 kW. These will be the first of such stations in Germany that are accessible to all car brands, and where EVs can be charged with up to 500 kilometers of range in just 15 minutes. Fastned commits itself to open the stations before the launch of major new electric cars such as the Audi Q6 e-tron, Volkswagen I.D., Porsche Mission E, Tesla Model 3 and the Jaguar I-PACE.

Fastned is concessionaire for 201 fast charging stations along Dutch highways and already has 60 stations operational. At these locations Fastned sells electricity to electric drivers. For the last two years Fastned has shown consistent rapid growth of around 10% month-on-month.

Fastned has been working on the development of locations outside the Netherlands for some time. For the realisation of its fast charging stations Fastned approaches (local) authorities and private parties which have high-quality locations close to the highway. In the coming months the charging company expects to sign more locations in Germany as well as in other countries. By doing so Fastned takes concrete steps towards the development of a pan-European fast charging network where all electric cars can fast charge.

Michiel Langezaal, CEO Fastned: “We are witnessing the start of the ‘Autowende’, from fossil to electric. This is accompanied by the start of a transition from petrol stations to fast-charging stations where electric cars can charge super fast and continue their journey. Fastned is building a pan-European network of fast charging stations that will provide freedom to drivers of electric cars to travel across Europe. As charging speeds increase, charging will become like refuelling your car, and fast charging stations will be the petrol stations of the future.”

For the German locations Fastned cooperates with the municipality of Limburg, hotel chain Van der Valk and property developer Lutzenberger Projektentwicklung (Lu.pe).

Dr. Marius Hahn, Mayor of Limburg an der Lahn: “We are pleased with the commitment of Fastned in Limburg. For us this is an additional offer for mobility managing without combustion engines. With Fastned we will enter a new dimension to increase the attractiveness of electromobility between the agglomerations of Frankfurt and Cologne. The quick charging station will significantly strengthen the industrial estate at the Intercity Railway Station connected with the purpose to settle innovative companies with creative ideas in this area. The international character of the provider is particularly valuable for our city.” The mayor of Limburg hopes that this sustainable mobility will prevail to existing and future companies in the ICE-Railway-Station business park.”

Vincent van der Valk, Director Van der Valk Deutschland GmbH: “Both Van der Valk and Fastned offer service to people who are on the road. Our hotels are located near major highways and therefore also interesting to Fastned. This forms the basis of our partnership. We are delighted that we will soon have qualitative charging facilities available for our guests and other EV drivers, while we don’t have to operate these stations ourselves. Fastned takes care of everything and makes sure the chargers are always working. And of course the EV driver can also use the the services that Van der Valk hotels has to offer. A clear win-win situation.”

Elmar Lutzenberger, Managing Partner Lutzenberger Projektentwicklung: “We have been developing traffic-oriented service areas on the left and right side of the German highways since 2001. It is becoming more and more obvious that electric cars are a part of the mobility future. That’s why I think it is important to have qualitative fast charging stations on our service areas. Fastned is a leading player in this market, and provides extremely high-quality charging services.”

• Fastned is expanding its operations in Germany.