Large tech firms and startups are both following big auto companies in an attempt to rebrand themselves as mobility companies. In the past months, we’ve seen more evidence of this shift, particularly from ride-hailing companies. Among others, Uber has partnered with Limebike and acquired JumpBike, Lyft has purchased Motivate, Grab has announced the launch of a platform, and Didi is weighing a buy-out of Ofo. These moves indicate companies are gravitating toward the same end-goal: to become platforms. They aspire to build “one-stop shops” for customers, providing the extent of mobility options (bike-share, shared rides, etc) as well as the gamut of transportation-related services (route planning, traffic management, etc). The move towards transportation platforms stands to have 6 major implications on the industry and beyond.
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