Shuttle business Via could add scooters to its lineup

NelsonG · November 30, 2018

Via, a shuttle-based carpooling service and platform that partners with cities in the U.S. and Europe, could soon add scooters to its business.

Via CEO and co-founder Daniel Ramot said onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin that the company is experimenting with the idea of adding scooters as a complement to its shuttle business.

“We’re also adding scooters mostly, again, for our partner cities, where they’re going to provide a holistic transportation solution as a public transit offering to the residents,” Ramot said.

Via’s consumer-facing shuttles are in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York. The company also partners with cities and transportation authorities, giving clients access to their platform to deploy their own shuttles. For instance, Austin’s Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority uses the Via platform to power the city’s Pickup service. Via’s platform is also used by Arriva Bus UK, a Deutsche Bahn Company, for a first and last-mile service connecting commuters to a high-speed train station in Kent, U.K.

Via hasn’t launched scooters yet. But Ramot told TechCrunch backstage that Via is looking at launching scooters in Sacramento and is already in talks with city officials. The approach would be to add scooters in cities where it already has a presence. Scooters wouldn’t be launched without its core shuttle business or platform, Ramot said.

Via is still very much focused on building out its shuttle platform. By the end of next year, Via wants to be in about 300 cities powering the public transit system, Ramot said.