https://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-free-electric-shuttles-fill-urban-commuting-need-20190510-hugx4xf5ljfpvnnbb7ovxme66a-story.html
[Unfortunately, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation effectively
killed the LS(E)V here, and most other provinces also ensured they were
not allowed on the roads. (It appears Ontario has re-invented their
LSV unicorn program as of mid-2017, and Quebec has legalized one type of
industrial LSV as of May 2018.)
BC was the exception, but they created a municipal jigsaw puzzle which
had the same net effect.
(http://www.econogics.com/ev/lsvlegal.htm)
As a result, the real Canadian electric vehicle of the time (up to 6
manufacturers at one point), invented in Canada by Bombardier was
snuffed out.
(https://www.econogics.com/ev/T2M 2008 LSVs.pptx)
The vehicles described in the article below are actually MSEVs
(mid-speed electric vehicles, which have a top speed of 35 mph (about 55
km/h).
links in online article]
They’re like Uber but free: New electric shuttles popping up all over
South Florida
By Ron Hurtibise
| South Florida Sun Sentinel |
May 11, 2019
You may have heard that in life there are no free rides. Forget about
that. In a growing number of South Florida cities, you really can ride
for free.
So you’ll have to forego air conditioning, the ride won’t last more than
five or 10 minutes, and you won’t exceed 35 mph. But you can take
comfort in knowing you are helping to reduce fossil fuel emissions.
Tipping the driver is optional.
Partnering with local governments and private advertisers, several
companies are building fleets of low-speed street-legal six-seat
electric shuttles to ferry the permanently or temporarily car-less over
short distances within congested urban zones.
Pedestrians in busy sections of Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and West
Palm Beach can use smartphone apps to summon rides from two growing
services: Freebee, in the middle of a pilot program in a square-mile
section of downtown Fort Lauderdale, and Circuit (formerly The Free
Ride), which serves Fort Lauderdale’s beachfront resort area and last
week began shuttling tourists and commuters in the core area of Hollywood.
Both companies also serve communities in Miami-Dade, while Circuit
operates in West Palm Beach, the Town of Palm Beach and Gardens Mall in
Palm Beach Gardens.
Another company, Swoop, operates exclusively in Miami Beach, with
vehicles advertising various lifestyle brands as Spanx, Glam Squad,
European Wax Center and Coterie.
The services typically operate within densely populated areas no larger
than a square mile on streets with speed limits no higher than 35 mph.
As South Florida developers have no choice but to turn away from sprawl
and focus instead on building high-rise, mixed-use, “live-work-play”
communities, founders of the eco-friendly electric fleets say that — by
providing access to train and bus stations — they’re helping residents
realize the dream of living without a car.
Circuit loops downtown Hollywood to the beachside
Circuit was founded in The Hamptons, a string of seaside resort
communities on Long Island, New York, in 2011 when co-founders Alex
Esposito and James Mirras discovered that consumer product brands would
fund the entire cost of operation for the opportunity to advertise to
the area’s affluent residents.
The company then replicated the concept on the Jersey Shore; in Austin,
Texas; and in such popular California beach communities as Santa Monica,
Long Beach, Venice, San Diego and Marina del Ray, among other destinations.
“The initial concept was using ad dollars to get people from crowded
urban areas to the beach,” Esposito said in an interview. Then as the
company started working closely with San Diego in 2016, “we realized our
simple beach shuttle concept had great applications in congested urban
areas.”
Despite targeting affluent enclaves, the services are used by anyone
needing access to and from the companies’ service areas — bartenders who
take the train, office workers going to lunch, high-rise condo residents
heading to dinner or a show. Unlike fixed route services like trains and
buses, the companies’ electric vehicles come to their clients, pick them
up and drop them off at their destinations.
Hollywood’s partnership with Circuit began when the city solicited bids
to replace its Hollywood Trolley, which will be shut down by June 30.
Circuit agreed to run six cars daily — and up to 10 during the busiest
parts of the season — within three zones: the city’s beachside, Federal
Highway business district and downtown. Shuttles will also run between
downtown and the beachside via Hollywood Boulevard.
The city wanted a service that would be free to riders, said Joanne
Hussey. the city’s communications manager.
“Riders can use their app to ask them to come and get them. We really
liked that. They didn’t have to go to a trolley stop and wait. We had
feedback from people saying, ‘When I go to the trolley stop, I don’t
know when it’s going to be there.' We also liked that this uses electric
vehicles." That fit in the city’s goal to be as “green” as possible, she
added.
Users can hail rides by downloading a smartphone app called Ride
Circuit, or, if they see one of the vehicles approaching, simply hail it
as one would hail a cab, Hussey said. The city is calling its service
Sun Shuttle.
Hollywood’s contract with Circuit calls for the city to spend up to
$884,351 annually, but that can be reduced by an agreement that pays the
city half of any money generated by Circuit’s sale of advertising in and
on the vehicles.
Freebee juggles three business models
Jason Spiegel, a University of Miami grad who started Freebee in 2011
with fellow Hurricane alum Kris Kimball, said his company can make money
giving away free rides by pursuing three business models:
One model calls for cities to fund the entire operation as if it was
their own.
Under the second, the city pays a contracted rate that gets reduced as
advertising is sold. Prior to its current deal with Freebee, Coral
Gables agreed to pay $300,000 a year and saw that amount reduced to
$110,000 after Baptist Health came on board as sole sponsor. But when
the contract came up for renewal, Coral Gables decided it didn’t want
outside advertising and agreed to pay $486,000 to expand from three to
five vehicles and keep its service self-branded, Spiegel said.
Under the third model, ad revenues fund the entire operation. Riders are
greeted with ads not only wrapped around the outside of the vehicles,
but inside and on mounted tablets. Often drivers pass out product
samples provided by the advertisers. Riders can take selfies with the
tablets, send them to their friends and even listen to their requested
music, Spiegel said.
Freebee is funding the three-month pilot program in downtown Fort
Lauderdale solely with ad revenue, Spiegel said. Beer maker Corona had
an exclusive contract during the first month and rum giant Bacardi is
sponsoring the final two months, he said.
The company is negotiating terms of a longer-term deal that could
include more service areas, more vehicles and expanded hours if the city
agrees to contribute financially, Spiegel said.
Hours of operation vary among the services and zones. In Fort
Lauderdale, Freebee operates until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until
9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and until 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Circuit operates in Hollywood from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through
Thursday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Spiegel said he’s not concerned about competition from Circuit, which
beat Freebee to the Fort Lauderdale market with its own fully
ad-supported service that operates on the beachside, downtown area and
Las Olas Boulevard.
He says there’s plenty of business to go around, even if Freebee
achieves its goal of expanding to other areas of Fort Lauderdale,
including the beachside and Cypress Creek Road business district.
Founded in 2013, Freebee employs about 75 full time workers in South
Florida, Spiegel said, adding, “That should be over 100 over the next
few months."
Circuit, founded in 2011, employs 32 in South Florida — not all of them
full-time — and 140 nationwide, according to Circuit partner Jason Bagley.
Electric vehicle market poised for growth
Making the new industry possible is the growth of “microtransit”
vehicles, which evolved from electric golf carts. Freebee and Circuit
deploy six-seaters made by Polaris Global Electric Motorcars. The
six-seat GEM e6 starts at $15,799 and cost a fraction of what
gas-powered six-seaters cost to operate, enabling entrepreneurs to enter
the shuttle business with a minimal investment.
Esposito said it’s not unusual to find sole proprietors shuttling around
the city during special events, picking up passengers for free and
counting on tips to make the effort worthwhile. “Anyone can bring a car
and go on the street, and they’ll run around about a week before the
city notices.” Then they find out they need to buy insurance and obtain
permits and realize the business is more difficult than they thought, he
said.
Spiegel said Freebee’s vehicles, after being customized with optional
features, cost the company about $40,000 each.
For Polaris, the urban shuttle business started as a niche alongside its
more lucrative business selling all terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and
motorcycles.
The electric scooter rage: Which ones are the best to rent? »
Today, 50,000 GEMS are on the road, according to a recent story in the
Minneapolis Star Tribune. Keith Simon, vice president at Polaris
Commercial North America, said in an email that the company could not
quantify how many of the shuttles have been sold in the U.S. “for
competitive reasons,” adding, “We’ve built more than 50,000 but we can’t
be sure how many are on the road today."
Sales of the company’s low-speed street-legal vehicles are on track to
double this year compared to last year, Simon said. “The value they
provide, especially in urban dense and congested areas, is incredible."
Circuit’s origin story, dating back to when the company was called The
Free Ride, is posted on Polaris’ website as an example for
similarly-minded entrepreneurs.
Spiegel said Polaris wasn’t marketing the vehicles as business
opportunities until it caught onto Freebee’s success.
“We kind of created this, and now they’re using it to try to market
these vehicles to create business,” he said.
Simon didn’t directly respond when asked whether Polaris got the idea
from Circuit and Freebee to promote its GEM vehicles as an urban
transportation solution.
He said Polaris GEM vehicles are currently used by shuttle operators in
more than 50 U.S. cities, including 10 metro areas in Florida, Simon wrote.
“Freebee and Circuit have turned our GEM shuttles into an enjoyable
experience — the proprietary apps, free transportation and open-air
rider comfort make the movement from A to B a memorable event,” Simon said.
--
Darryl McMahon
Freelance Project Manager (sustainable systems)
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