Uber to Exit Minneapolis in Response to New City Council Rules
Waymo & Zoox expand markets, Chick-fil-A intros mobile pickup, 3PD February market share
We’ve got laborious updates today, both in terms of the rules of employment for gig workers across the country, and the rules of the road for those new-fangled, people free driving machines. And read on for an interesting new Chick-fil-A mobile pickup concept, plus 3PD market share data.
This week’s edition is brought to you by Curbivore — 3/28-29 in DTLA.
Today:
New Labor Rules in Minneapolis & Nationwide
Zoox, Waymo Battle for Southwestern Markets
Chart Time | 3PD Market Share February Update
Chick-fil-A Trials Urban-Friendly Delivery / Pickup Concept
LABOR | TNCs Pull Out of MPLS After City Council Ruling
Et tu, Uber? In a fitting new item for the Ides of March, Uber and Lyft plan to kill off their services in Minneapolis, in response to a new minimum wage for drivers. The city council voted to override a mayoral veto, pushing pay to $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute. The mayor opposed the bill on similar grounds to Uber & Lyft, believing that a $0.89/mile and $0.49/minute pay floor would have been sufficient to ensure drivers met the minimum wage. This issue has been brewing for some time in the region, with state legislators having passed their own minimum wage bill in 2023, before Governor Waltz vetoed it.
The Big Picture: It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Black and Pink apps pull out of a market in response to new legislation, a tactic they used to deploy more frequently. (Does anyone else remember all the knock off apps that arose in Austin eight years ago in response to the Uber / Lyft void? Do the words “Arcade City Austin” shoot a bolt of unlicensed lightning down anyone’s spine?) After a few years of calm, it seems the fight over gig labor reform is heating back up… with the Feds having recently reintroduced the Labor Department interpretation that was in effect pre-Trump, which is more likely to consider certain workers to be employees than independent contractors. Naturally Republicans are up in arms.
Curbivore Kicks Off in Two Weeks — Register Now
Curbivore kicks off in just two weeks, starting with our amazing Thursday night Opening Reception, brought to you by CurbIQ and hosted at the fabulous Bike Shed Moto Co. (Ticket holders - check your inboxes for RSVP details.) This is shaping up to be our best Curbivore yet, with an earthshaking agenda, and amazing new speakers like Lars Erik Fagernaes, CEO of leading European drone delivery player Aviant; Debs Schrimmer, Senior Advisor to the Joint Office of Energy & Transportation; Haley Robinson, VP of Corporate Affairs at Revel and so many more.
AUTONOMY | Zoox Chases Waymo Across Southwest
Zoox, the autonomous shuttle player owned by Amazon, is expanding its robotaxi services in California and Nevada. In Vegas, the company is enlarging its service area to a five mile radius, including parts of the famed Strip. In both NV and the SF Bay Area, Zoox is also upping its top speed to 45 mph, and allowing for night time and inclement weather driving. Zoox has been offering its NorCal robotaxi service since February of last year, with its pedal & steering wheel-free vehicles plying the streets of Foster City.
The Big Picture: Zoox is in a deployment race against Alphabet’s Waymo, which just announced plans to launch paid robotaxi services in Austin by year’s end. Just last week, Waymo began operating sans safety drivers in a 43 square mile area centered around downtown. The company also announced it was beginning paid rides in the Los Angeles Basin, covering the key Downtown to Santa Monica corridor.
Hear from Arielle Fleisher, Waymo’s Policy Development & Research Manager, and explore their unique hardware, at Curbivore.
CHART TIME |
February had an extra day, but evidently DoorDash was the only one that leapt at the opportunity, with its February market share creeping up one point, as compared to Second Measure’s January rankings. DashPass retention sat at 66% for one month, 34% for six months and 26% at the year mark.
OPERATIONS | Chick-fil-A Intros Mobile Pickup Only Resto
Famed chicken sandwich purveyor Chick-fil-A is rethinking its restaurant build-outs, as it brings its first mobile pickup-only restaurant to New York City’s Upper East Side. Guests will order ahead, with the restaurant alerted by a geofence when the patron is nearby. Inside, status boards will route customers and delivery workers to the right pickup lane for a quick hand-off. The storefront will feature no seating areas nor dine-in services.
The Big Picture: Chick-fil-A is legendary for the impact its storefronts can have on neighborhoods. With its standard drive-thrus often taking up to seven minutes to serve a customer, the Georgia-based chain has tried hoisting its restaurants *above* the drive-thrus, and introing multi-lane “mobile thru” build outs. While those might work in the burbs, that’s not going to thrive in more urban locales. Curb management player Vade (RIP) once found that poultry-crazed double parkers at the chain’s Boston location blocked an important travel lane for nearly the entire day. for a whopping 90% of the day. Meanwhile, in Downtown Austin, delivery workers will literally park on the sidewalk to grab those sammies. It’s nice to see CfA exploring more urban store formats, but cities will need to get smart about compliance to really make this work.
A Few Good Links
Learn the basics of curb data with the Open Mobility Foundation’s CDS 101 webinar, March 21st at 9 AM PT. Sbe’s Sam Nazarian acquires Kitchen United IP and ghost kitchens, merging into Nextbite and C3 to form Everybody Eats. LA County struggles with restaurant inspector shortages. Postmates’ ex-founder Bastian Lehmann adds new payment features to TipTop, his trade-in app. Wonder expands at Walmart. McDonald’s suffers overseas tech outage. Pepsi updates logo. Gelson’s intros own coffee brand. EV charger Blink ups revenue, CRO celebrates with unseemly number of exclamation points. Retail media networks at inflection point. Walmart opens AI-powered logistics to broader audience. BC trucker gets jail time for hitting overpass. Surf Beyond buys Superpedestrian’s remains. First Watch deploys Up n’ Go payment tech. Autonomous warehouse tuggers score deployment. Autocar ups EV workfleet. Favor partners with Toast. Kroger pushes Spring deliveries. Chatbotter Perplexity adds Yelp data. Arcos Dorados (McD’s LatAm) sees profit rise. NYC ponies up for new bus terminal. Grubhub opens wallet for AHA Chicago. DD reveals Easter favorites. Feds ask for 2.7% more DOT funding in ‘25.
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